Tesla Inc. directors, including co-founder Elon Musk, agreed to return more than $735 million in stock awards to settle an investor lawsuit accusing board members of improperly giving themselves massive compensation packages.
The directors — including Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison; James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch; and Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk – agreed to hand over the stock grants and change the way board level compensation issues are reviewed, according to court filings.
The Tesla directors denied wrongdoing as part of the accord, but said they agreed to settle the case “to eliminate the uncertainty, risk, burden, and expense of further litigation,” according to the July 14 filing in Delaware Chancery Court .
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment Monday. Delaware Chancery Court Chief Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick still must approve the deal for it to become final.
The case is the Police and Fire Retirement System of Detroit v. Musk, 2020-0477, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).
