Musk and Shareholder Democracy

A court showdown in the First State will decide whether a judge, or the owners of Tesla, will set Elon Musk’s salary.

Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images
Elon Musk leaves a courthouse in 2021 at Wilmington, Delaware. Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images

Whatever happened to Shareholder Democracy? That’s the question unfolding in a Delaware court after Tesla’s owners — its shareholders — defied a judge over how much to pay their chief executive, Elon Musk. The judge is flummoxed — “This has never been done before,” she stammered at a hearing — and the case may go to the First State’s high court. It also reflects ferment over corporate law in Delaware, a haven for big American companies.

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