Elon Musk clears legal hurdle, regains $56B Tesla pay

Elon just pulled off a win that puts him back on a rocket ship to remain the world’s richest man for a very long time, after Delaware’s Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the entire $56 billion pay package Tesla gave him back in 2018.

The Court’s decision reverses a 2024 court decision that scrapped it on claims of a rigged approval process.

The top court didn’t deny that Tesla’s board messed up. In fact, it agreed the 2018 compensation plan was pushed through by a board way too close to Elon. Still, the justices made one thing clear: wiping the plan completely was going way too far.

Their ruling: “Total rescission leaves Musk uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years.”

That 2018 plan gave Elon stock grants tied to Tesla hitting a long list of business targets. And boy, did he hit them. Between 2018 and 2024, Tesla’s market value exploded past $1 trillion.

So now, thanks to Friday’s ruling, Elon is walking away with 303 million shares, worth nearly $150 billion at today’s prices.

Delaware rejects full cancellation of Elon’s Tesla pay package

The first court to rule against Elon’s pay package plan was the Delaware Court of Chancery in early 2024, where Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled that Tesla’s board was too cozy with Elon and basically rubber-stamped the payout. She called him the “paradigmatic ‘Superstar CEO’” who “dominated the process.”

Elon lashed out, calling the Chancellor’s decision “absolute corruption,” while the Tesla board quickly told shareholders to re-vote on the $56 billion pay plan in June 2024, hoping to fix things retroactively.

More than 70% of shareholders (with majority being retailers mind you) backed it again immediately. But McCormick again in December 2024 ruled that the second vote didn’t cancel out the board’s original failure.

That’s what sent the whole mess up to the state’s highest court. During a hearing two months ago, justices focused heavily on whether canceling Elon’s entire pay was too harsh. On Friday, they gave their answer: yes, it was.

They said Elon delivered, and both Tesla and its shareholders benefited big time from his leadership. The board’s errors? Slapped with a symbolic fine: just $1.

Tesla shareholders’ new $1 trillion plan remains on pause

Before the ruling came down, Tesla’s board had already floated a brand-new pay plan for Elon—this one could hit a mind-blowing $1 trillion if all targets are met. That deal was approved in November 2025, but Tesla warned it would be scrapped if the old 2018 package was brought back to life. Now that it is, the $1 trillion package is likely dead, at least for now.

Meanwhile, the lawyers who took the case to court did walk away with something. The Delaware Supreme Court awarded $54.5 million in fees to the legal team behind the lawsuit filed by shareholder Richard Tornetta. That’s a far cry from the $7 billion in Tesla stock they originally wanted. The trial court had already cut that down to $345 million, but the Supreme Court sliced it again.

One Tornetta lawyer said Friday: “We thank the justices for their attention, hard work and time… and are considering our next steps.” Sounds like the war’s not over.

Since all this drama started, Tesla change its incorporation to Texas, and other tech companies like Dropbox and Coinbase also ditched Delaware for states like Nevada. In response, Delaware quietly made it harder for shareholders to sue boards over massive pay deals like Elon’s.

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