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Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP
Elon Musk has moved the official headquarters of his space company SpaceX to Texas. The 52-year-old is angry that a judge in Delaware does not want to grant him a share package worth around $56 billion in the electric car manufacturer Tesla, which he also runs. He had therefore announced that he would also withdraw other companies in his environment from Delaware, which is extremely popular as a company headquarters in the USA.
Musk and authorities in Texas released documents showing that SpaceX was officially based there as of Wednesday. SpaceX has long had a strong presence in the state: the Starship rocket and satellites of the Starlink communications system are built there, and engines are developed and tested at several locations.
Musk had already moved his brain implant company Neuralink from Delaware to Nevada last week. This is more difficult with Tesla: Unlike SpaceX and Neuralink, the car manufacturer is listed on the stock exchange and a move would require shareholder approval. Musk announced a corresponding proposal, but so far it has remained that way.
By withdrawing his companies from Delaware, Musk is reacting to the court's decision on a shareholder lawsuit at the end of January. In 2018, Tesla promised him stock options worth up to $56 billion if ambitious targets for stock market value and business figures were reached. A shareholder sued. Musk has already been granted the options, but he has not yet been able to redeem them due to the legal dispute.
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Judge Kathaleen McCormick in Delaware found that Musk had too much influence in the background when agreeing the compensation plan to be considered a fair process. Shareholders were told that some of those responsible for the decision at Tesla had close ties to Musk.
In the trial, the judge therefore ruled in favor of the plaintiff, who wants to annul the agreement with Musk. She admitted that the cancellation of the mega deal does not automatically follow from the finding that the agreement was created under unfair circumstances. However, an annulment is the preferred solution in Delaware. “The plaintiff has a right to annulment,” she wrote in her 200-page judgment. Musk then railed that all companies should leave the state.
Delaware is a very popular company headquarters in the USA due to the favorable tax conditions and corporate jurisdiction that has developed over decades.
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