On the 2nd, Judge Catherine McCormick of the Delaware court ruled that Tesla’s CEO stock option (stock option) compensation plan, which is worth $101.5 billion based on the stock price, was not legal.
In response, Musk called the ruling “absolute corruption” to X that evening.
Since then, Musk’s supporters have posted photos of Judge McCormick, sharing them and posting accusations such as “crazy,” “should step down as a judge right now,” “completely evil, this judge should be audited,” and “let’s send her to prison.”
Musk, who owns X, has 268.8 million followers on the platform.
“If you look at Tesla’s ruling, Delaware Judge McCormick is the worst activist judge,” major Tesla investor Cathy Wood wrote in X.
Judge McCormick has been hearing a lawsuit filed by Tesla minority shareholder Richard Toneta against the Musk compensation package decided in 2018. For the first time in January, he tentatively decided that the compensation plan was not legal.
Since then, Tesla’s board of directors has asked Judge McCormick to reconsider the proposal to reauthorize the CEO’s compensation proposal at Tesla’s regular shareholders’ meeting this year and passed a shareholder vote in June, but Judge McCormick refused to accept it and issued the same ruling again.
Tesla expressed its willingness to appeal immediately after the ruling came out.
Some in the legal profession praise Judge McCormick for not giving in to Tesla’s pressure despite being strongly criticized by his supporters after the provisional ruling in January, Bloomberg reported.
“Many of Musk’s supporters and followers believe that a manager like him should not be constrained,” Ann Lipton, a professor of corporate law at Tulane University, said. “But McCormick’s ruling is in line with Delaware law and Musk should be treated the same as any other company.”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
