By Tom Hals
WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – A Delaware judge ruled on Monday that Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is still not entitled to a $56 billion compensation package, despite the electric car company’s shareholders voting to reinstate it .
The ruling by the judge, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Court of Chancery, follows her January decision calling the pay package excessive and rescinding it, which surprised investors and sowed uncertainty about Musk’s future at the world’s most valuable automaker.
Tesla has said in court filings that the judge should recognize a subsequent vote by its shareholders in June in favor of the pay package for Musk, the company’s driving force responsible for many of its claims, and reinstate his compensation.
McCormick also ordered Tesla to pay the lawyers who brought the case $345 million, well short of the billions they initially asked for.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Bill Berkrot)