A Delaware judge has allowed Elon Musk and Tesla to begin legal challenges to reinstate the CEO’s $56 billion pay package, the largest in the company’s history.
Counsel Kathleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an order Friday, opening a 30-day window to appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The appeal challenges McCormick’s January ruling, which found that Musk and Tesla’s boards violated their fiduciary duty to investors when they approved the 2018 compensation plan. The judge called the plan “unfathomable” in its size.
On December 2, McCormick declined to reconsider her ruling, despite Tesla shareholders voting in June to support the package.
Tesla will also be able to appeal a separate McCormick order directing the company to pay $345 million in legal fees to lawyers for Richard Tornetta, the shareholder who sued in 2018 to overturn the pay package.
The Delaware Supreme Court typically takes about a year to issue a decision after an appeal.