DOVER, Delaware TESLA- The lawyers who successfully argued that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s enormous compensation deal was illegal and should be annulled have requested the presiding court to award them $5.6 billion in company stock as legal fees.
Lawyers Who Successfully Argued Musk Pay Package Was Illegal Seek $5.6 Billion In Tesla Stock
The attorneys representing Tesla stockholders in the January case filed court papers on Friday, requesting the Delaware judge’s ruling.
If authorized, the reward is the largest. Lawyers in class-action litigation stemming from Enron’s collapse received $688 million in legal fees in 2008.
“We are ‘prepared to eat our cooking,'” the Tesla plaintiff attorneys said in the court filing, suggesting that the amount is justified given they worked only on a contingency basis for over 5 years. If they lost, they would have received nothing. The benefit to Tesla “was massive,” they said.
Lawyers Who Successfully Argued Musk Pay Package Was Illegal Seek $5.6 Billion In Tesla Stock
The recommended amount reflects 11% of the Tesla shares, worth approximately $55 billion, that Musk sought in his compensation plan, which Judge Kathleen St. Jude McCormick deemed unconstitutional in January.
The attorneys stated that not only does the request have no impact on the electric car company’s balance sheet, but it is also tax deductible. They are also looking for $1.1 million in expenses.
Judge McCormick accepted the shareholder lawyers’ contention that Musk personally dictated the landmark 2018 pay deal in sham negotiations with non-independent directors.
Lawyers Who Successfully Argued Musk Pay Package Was Illegal Seek $5.6 Billion In Tesla Stock
It would have almost doubled Musk’s stake in Tesla. He presently has 13%.
SOURCE – (AP)
