Delaware Chancery court judge Kathaleen McCormick has denied Tesla’s request to revise her decision to strike down CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package — despite shareholders voting at the company’s annual meeting this year to “re-ratify” the deal.
Her decision, laid out in a 103-page opinion published on Monday, explains that the attempt by Tesla’s legal team — which Musk has called “hardcore” — to change her mind contained multiple flaws, each of which were fatal on their own.
Tesla has been expected to appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court since McCormick’s initial opinion was issued in January. Since then, though, the company has reincorporated from Delaware to Texas. Musk is also now a sort of right-hand man to President-elect Donald Trump, raising all kinds of questions about his priorities as the United States heads into a new administration.
McCormick also awarded the plaintiff’s attorneys a $345 million fee — payable in cash or Tesla shares — that is eye-popping, but still a fraction of the $5.6 billion those lawyers requested earlier this year.
This story is developing…