Enlarge image
Tesla boss Musk: Anger over a court ruling
Photo: Lukasz Glowala / REUTERS
After his defeat in a court in Delaware, Elon Musk wants to have the company's headquarters moved to Texas. The multi-billionaire announced a corresponding vote among shareholders on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
A judge in the US state of Delaware had ruled that company boss Musk had too much influence in the background when agreeing on the stock allocation plan in 2018. Therefore, it has become significantly less likely that Musk will be entitled to the stock options from Tesla agreed at the time, worth up to $56 billion. In the trial, the judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, who wanted to annul the agreement with Musk.
“Never start your company in the state of Delaware,” Musk posted shortly afterwards on X and started an informal survey as to whether Tesla should now move its legal headquarters to Texas. More than 87 percent of the more than 1.1 million votes cast were in favor of the relocation.
»The public vote is clearly in favor of Texas! “Tesla will immediately hold a shareholder vote on moving its legal headquarters to Texas,” Musk then wrote in an X post.
Close ties to Texas
However, Musk's initiative to relocate Tesla to Texas could also be driven by other, less spontaneous motives. Because his connections to the ultra-conservative US state are diverse. He moved Tesla's headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas in 2021. However, Tesla is legally registered in Delaware.
Musk decided to move the headquarters to Texas after he criticized California's regulations and taxes and also clashed with health authorities at the beginning of the corona pandemic over the reopening of a factory in Fremont.
One of the electric car manufacturer's so-called Gigafactories is also located in Texas, where the company is also planning an expansion worth over $750 million. A lithium refinery will also be built there, which will produce enough material for around a million electric cars by 2025.
And then there are Musk's other companies, such as SpaceX and The Boring Company, which have offices in Texas.
However, Musk will not be able to easily ignore the ruling made in Delaware. However, it is by no means certain how the dispute will ultimately end.
Musk and plaintiffs should work out a solution
The judge ordered the parties on Tuesday to work out a solution. At the same time, she emphasized that annulment of the megadeal does not automatically follow from the judgment - but the plaintiff has a right to it. The electric car manufacturer and Musk can still appeal.
The plaintiff Richard Tornetta, a Tesla shareholder, argued in court that the goals set for Musk were too easy to achieve. Musk was not even required to dedicate his full time to the car manufacturer. Even back then, he was only a part-time boss, as he also ran the space rocket company SpaceX. Musk later also bought the online platform Twitter, which he then renamed X.
From Musk's perspective, however, he had agreed to the deal because at the time no one believed in Tesla's success with its electric cars anyway. Pressure or undue influence from him as a major shareholder was not necessary.
mik/Reuters