Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk's $56bn pay package

Vote comes as Tesla faces challenges from consumers

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. AP

Tesla shareholders on Thursday approved chief executive Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package, a ringing endorsement of his leadership even as the electric car maker faces market challenges under his leadership.

Shareholders also approved a proposal to move the company's legal home to Texas from Delaware, Tesla said at its annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas.

Mr Musk had sought the move after a court in Delaware rejected his paycheque.

Cheers erupted when the proposal to grant him the pay package was mentioned before voting.

“It's incredible," Mr Musk told the crowd gathered at Tesla's headquarters in Austin. “I think we’re not just opening a new chapter for Tesla, we’re starting a new book.”

Mr Musk had posted a chart on his social-media platform X late on Wednesday that showed the resolution would pass by wide margins.

The Tesla chief could still face a long legal fight to convince a Delaware judge who invalidated the package in January, saying that as Mr Musk controlled the board, he was not entitled to the landmark payment.

The board said he deserves the package because he hit all of the ambitious targets on market value, revenue and profitability.

Mr Musk reassured shareholders that he will stick around, telling them he cannot sell any stock in the compensation package for five years.

“It's not actually cash, and I can't cut and run, nor would I want to,” he said.

Concerns have arisen, however, that as the owner of six companies including X, SpaceX and xAI, Mr Musk may be spread too thin.

He has also alienated a large part of his electric-vehicle client base, which is liberal-leaning, by increasingly aligning himself with Republicans and espousing conservative views.

A group of shareholders showed its displeasure with Mr Musk's leadership by filing a lawsuit against him, saying his new company xAI would be in competition against Tesla and would funnel talent and resources away from the electric vehicle maker.

The debate over whether Tesla's focus is on AI or electric vehicles is long-standing.

Mr Musk has threatened on X to develop AI elsewhere if he does not receive a 25 per cent stake in Tesla – he owns about 13 per cent now, according to AP.

Dubai's first rentable Tesla Cybertruck – in pictures

Tesla's Cybertruck at Connect Ai's showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

Kirill Sosnovyi, founder of Connect Ai, inside the Cybertruck

Connect Ai will begin renting out the robust off-roader from next week

The Cybertruck can race to 100kph in 6.7 seconds and has a top speed of about 180kph

The dual-motor electric vehicle has a bulletproof exoskeleton, shatterproof windscreen and a range of 400km after an eight-hour charge

Rental rates are Dh700 by the hour or Dh2,800 a day