A crazy sum

Judge blocks billion-euro bonus for Elon Musk

On paper, Elon Musk is the wealthiest person on earth.

(Bild: AFP/RYAN COLLERD)

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was awarded a salary bonus worth billions by Tesla in 2018. The payment has since been blocked by a judge. The amount transferred has now increased to more than 100 billion dollars.

Despite the support of Tesla shareholders, a court continues to oppose the agreed remuneration for CEO Elon Musk in the billions. On Monday, a judge in the US state of Delaware upheld the decision she made in January that the company boss had too much influence behind the scenes when the plan for share awards was agreed in 2018.

New billions for Musk
Originally, the compensation plan had a total value of 2.6 billion dollars, but this had risen to 56 billion dollars by the time of the first decision due to the sharp rise in Tesla's share price. Based on Monday's closing price, the value would even be more than 100 billion dollars.

The judge came to the conclusion earlier this year that Musk had close relationships with members of the Tesla Board of Directors, with whom he had negotiated the generous remuneration.

Judge stands by her ruling
However, the shareholders had been kept in the dark about the entanglements before the first vote. As a result, they had not had the opportunity to make a well-considered decision, the judge had justified her ruling at the time.

She therefore ruled in favor of the plaintiff, who wants to annul the agreement with Musk. In June, Tesla shareholders once again approved the giant share package, but the judge stood by her initial ruling on Monday.

Tesla stated in Musk's online service X that the company would appeal. "Shareholders should control the votes of companies, not judges," Musk himself explained.

Upswing due to Trump's victory
Tesla shares fell by a good two percent to around 349 dollars in after-hours US trading on Monday. At the beginning of the year, when the judge made her first decision, the shares had cost less than 200 dollars. Tesla shares had recently benefited from Musk's closeness to US President-elect Donald Trump.

Among other things, investors are betting on the creation of a government framework for fully self-driving vehicles, which could then also benefit Tesla's Robotaxi. In the wake of the share price gains, Tesla's market capitalization rose again to more than 1.1 trillion dollars.