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Watch live: Tesla shareholders vote on Elon Musk’s $46 billion pay package
Tesla stock rose Thursday, after CEO Elon Musk said he’s already winning the shareholder vote on his massive pay package. After spiking about 6% at market open, the shares were still trading 3% higher late in the day, shortly before Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting kicked off.
Investors are deciding Thursday whether to re-approve Musk’s $46 billion pay package — the biggest executive compensation plan in U.S. history. Shareholders will also vote on reappointing Kimbal Musk — Elon Musk’s brother — and former 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch to Tesla’s board.
Musk shared screenshots on X late Wednesday showing that votes in favor of both resolutions were well above “against” votes — and that he had enough support for a guaranteed win.
“Both Tesla shareholder resolutions are currently passing by wide margins!” Musk wrote. “♥️♥️ Thanks for your support!! ♥️♥️”
Shares traded at $188.05 Thursday morning, bringing Tesla’s market capitalization to $590 billion.
Tesla’s annual meeting of shareholders will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT at the company’s electric vehicle factory in Austin, Texas.
If it does receive a thumbs-up from shareholders, it could pave the way for Musk to buy up to 304 million Tesla shares at a price of $23.34. A Delaware judge struck down the plan in January, citing a “deeply flawed” approval process and Musk’s “extensive ties” to members of the board.
Several big shareholders have already revealed how they will vote. Norges Bank Investment Management, CalPERS, and funds represented by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander have said they will vote against the compensation package. Major retail investor Leo KoGuan, who owns about 27.7 million shares as of May, has also said he will vote against the plan.
Proxy advisors Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) have also recommended a vote against the plan.
High-profile investors — and longtime Tesla bulls and fans of Musk — including billionaire Ron Baron and his Baron Capital investment firm, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, and Cathie Wood’s ARKInvest are likely to vote in favor. Others, like Vanguard, State Street, and BlackRock, have not revealed where they stand on the vote.
The Austin, Texas-based electric vehicle maker has had a difficult 2024 so far. Its stock is down almost 29% year-to-date, putting it among the worst performers in the S&P 500 this year. Its sales have also nosedived, with production being bottlenecked by factory shutdowns and renovations. Tesla had what an analyst called a “nightmare” first quarter punctuated by a massive drop in deliveries that fell well short of Wall Street’s expectations.
In China, Tesla is facing increasing competition strong local rivals like BYD and newcomers like Xiaomi.
Two of Tesla’s highest-profile and public-facing executives resigned from the company in April, after Musk informed more than 14,000 employees that they would be laid off.