WILMINGTON, Del.—After five days of testimony, including three hours from Elon Musk, a Delaware judge will now decide whether Musk’s $56 billion pay package from Tesla Inc. was justified by the company’s explosive growth or undermined by a flawed process.
Musk and the Tesla directors named as defendants repeatedly testified that the package achieved what it set out to do—deliver 10-fold growth in the company’s stock price, enriching investors, and Musk.
“We thought if we could pull this off, if this plan was executed, Tesla would be one of the most valuable technology companies,” Antonio Gracias, a Tesla board member from 2007 to 2021, told the Delaware Court of Chancery on Wednesday. “It was a great deal for the shareholders.”…