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Hey, everybody. 
Welcome back to the Elon Musk 

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Podcast. 
This is a show where we discuss 

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the critical crossroads, the 
Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The 

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Boring Company, and Neurolink. 
I'm your host, Will Walden. 

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Tesla shareholders have approved
a $29 billion stock grant for 

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Elon Musk, reviving a massive 
pay package that a Delaware 

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court had voided earlier this 
year. 

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This vote gives Musk the green 
light to claim one of the 

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largest compensation deals in 
corporate history, but it also 

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raises new questions about the 
control of the shareholders and 

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executive oversight for Elon 
Musk. 

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The approved deal allows Musk to
access 303,000,000 stock 

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options, which had originally 
been valued at around $56 

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billion when first agreed upon 
in 2018. 

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A Delaware judge struck down the
plan in January, calling it an 

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unfathomable sum and ruling the 
Tesla's board had not negotiated

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the package fairly. 
Now, the board has now 

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reapproved the same terms after 
a June shareholder meeting that 

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Tesla said reaffirmed investors 
support for Musk's leadership 

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and the future of the company. 
Now, Tesla made the package 

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contingent on hitting certain 
performance goals, though Musk 

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has already met those. 
These include Tesla reaching a 

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$650 billion market valuation 
and achieving specific revenue 

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and profit benchmarks. 
And while the company has seen 

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its market cap drop below the 
level in recent months, the 

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targets had already been 
achieved prior to the legal 

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ruling that nullify the award. 
Now, Tesla argue that this made 

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Musk eligible to receive the 
options regardless of the 

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stock's current trading value. 
Tesla relocated its legal home 

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from Delaware to Texas following
the January ruling. 

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They were done with it. 
The move came after the Delaware

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Chancery Court's decision 
blocked the original 

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compensation agreement. 
Tesla used the transition to 

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push for a shareholder vote 
under Texas corporate law, which

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lacks some of the stricter legal
standards found in Delaware, and

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the vote passed by a huge 
margin, according to the 

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company. 
Tesla has framed the approval as

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necessary to retain Musk, who 
has increasingly divided his 

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attention across several 
companies, SpaceX, XAIX, and 

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Neurolink, etcetera. 
And the board and Musk himself 

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have claimed that failure to 
approve the package could cause 

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him to disengage from Tesla or 
even shift its AI and robotics 

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projects to one of his other 
ventures. 

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So he's kind of holding them 
hostage. 

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If he doesn't get his money, 
he's going to leave or take some

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of his technologies someplace 
else. 

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Is that the right thing for 
somebody like Elon Musk to do? 

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Let me know in the comments of 
whatever platform you're on 

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right now. 
It's an interesting thing to 

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think about. 
Is he able to do this? 

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Is he allowed to do this? 
I want to hear what you say. 

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Let's talk about this now. 
Some of these shareholders argue

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that Musk's ongoing involvement 
is essential to Tesla's future 

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product pipeline, particularly 
full self driving and optimists.

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Tesla didn't provide updated 
financial details or accounting 

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for the new approval, but 
analysts estimate the package's 

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current value at around $29 
billion due to the stocks lower 

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trading price. 
And if exercised, the options 

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would grant Musk a roughly 20% 
stake in Tesla, further 

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consolidating his control. 
Also, Musk also already owns 

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around 13% of the company, even 
after selling billions of 

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dollars worth of stock to fund 
his $44 billion acquisition of 

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Twitter. 
Now, there's a thing with the 

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institutional investors here. 
Norge's bank and California's 

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public employee retirement 
system, They oppose this deal. 

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They're part of the 
shareholders. 

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They cited governance concerns 
and warned that the plan gives 

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Musk too much unchecked 
authority. 

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So smaller shareholders argued 
that Musk's pay package creates 

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A distorted incentive structure 
that could lead Tesla to 

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prioritize high risk growth 
targets over sustainable long 

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term positioning and planning. 
Tesla's retail show holder base,

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which includes many vocal Trump 
supporters and Musk supporters, 

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played a major role in swinging 
the vote in his favor. 

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The legal situation remains 
unresolved. 

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Chancellor Kathleen McCormick of
the Delaware Court of Chancery, 

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who originally voided the 
package, has not yet ruled on 

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whether Tesla's Texas vote 
overrides her decision. 

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The challenge is likely, 
especially since the case 

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effects how companies can 
retroactively approve executive 

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compensation, and Musk has not 
indicated whether he will 

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exercise the stock options 
immediately or wait. 

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But his voting power in Tesla is
now set to increase regardless. 

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The board has maintained that 
the 2018 plan was based entirely

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on performance and required Musk
to deliver concrete results 

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before gaining any compensation.
The company claims that the 

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approval shows that shareholders
remain aligned with Musk's 

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aggressive goals for expansion 
in autonomous driving, battery 

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storage, and AI. 
However, several watchdog groups

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argue that Tesla's board 
structure remains too close to 

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Musk to provide independent 
oversight. 

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Now, some people will argue that
the structure of Musk's deal 

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continues to set a dangerous 
precedent for executive 

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compensation, say it could 
influence other public companies

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to approve similar huge payouts 
that reward already wealthy 

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executives with massive stock 
windfalls. 

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A Musk's original 2018 package 
had no salary or cash bonuses, 

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only stock options that vested 
upon hitting very high growth 

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targets. 
The new approval does not change

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that structure, but cements its 
results. 

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And Musk has not committed to 
dedicating full time focus on 

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Tesla, though he's still at 
SpaceX. 

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And that's even after security 
vote. 

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SpaceX, XAI, they all continue 
to expand and overlapping 

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sectors. 
XAI recently raised $6 billion 

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and lost a chatbot that directly
competes with ChatGPT in factor.

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Investors will now watch whether
Musk prioritizes Tesla's AI over

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his other interests like XAI and
SpaceX, given that much of 

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Tesla's value is tied to 
expectations on full self 

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driving, autonomy for driving, 
and also cyber cab and the 

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robots too. 
Hey, thank you so much for 

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listening today. 
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support. 
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appreciate it. 
It helps out the show 

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tremendously and you'll never 
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And please take care of 
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And I'll see you tomorrow.