The Tesla shareholder who blocked CEO Elon Musk’s massive pay package has asked a Delaware judge to bar the company from reincorporating in Texas, which would move the pay dispute to the Lone Star State.
On Wednesday, the legal team of Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta asked Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick to stop the electric vehicle giant from moving its corporate home. Chancellor McCormick is the same judge who ruled against Mr. Musk’s $56 billion pay bundle in January.
“Defendants cannot now seek to run from this jurisdiction and undo years of litigation because they are unhappy with the outcome,” Mr. Tornetta’s attorneys wrote in a filing.
Mr. Tornetta’s lawyers also asked Chancellor McCormick to seize Mr. Musk’s Tesla stock options.
Tesla has been incorporated in Delaware for 21 years, the filing said. The company requires shareholders to file legal disputes in that state.
When she voided the pay package, Chancellor McCormick said Mr. Musk effectively controlled the board that negotiated the deal and gave him outsized influence in its size.
Since the January ruling, Mr. Musk has asked Tesla shareholders to ratify his $56 billion pay package and vote to move the company’s corporate address out of Delaware.
The legal battle over Mr. Musk’s pay package comes as Tesla deals with dire financial conditions. This month, the auto company reported lower-than-expected sales figures and announced it would cut 10% of its global workforce.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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