Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis added some drama to the coming Tesla annual shareholder meeting.
Over the weekend, Glass Lewis recommended that shareholders reject a proposal to reinstate CEO Elon Musk’s pay package worth some $56 billion when it was awarded in 2018.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the recommendation.
A Delaware court voided the package in January after a judge decided Tesla’s board didn’t adequately disclose potential conflicts of interest between Musk and the board. The package awarded Musk some 300 million options that vested based on hitting performance milestones.
Tesla’s board simply put the old pay package up for a new vote with additional disclosures. The issue will be decided at the company’s shareholder meeting on June 13.
A ‘no’ vote would send the board back to the compensation drawing board and potentially irritate Musk who has said he wants 25% voting control of Tesla stock to keep artificial intelligence projects inside the car company. With the 2018 pay package options, Musk has close to 20% voting control of Tesla stock.
Tesla stock is down 3.2% to $173.56 in morning trading Tuesday.
It’s a small move partly because the recommendation isn’t a surprise. Both ISS and Glass Lewis recommended voting against the pay package in 2018. The reasons also aren’t that surprising. The pay is an outlier in corporate America. There are few, if any, pay packages for any CEO that approximate what Musk received.
Of course, since the end of 2018, Tesla stock has expanded roughly eightfold, adding roughly $500 billion in market value. That’s one reason shareholders can feel happy with Musk.
The original proposal passed with more than 70% support from shareholders, despite the original objections from proxy advisor firms.
Coming into Tuesday’s trading, Tesla stock was about 28% year to date. Slowing demand growth for EVs and slowing sales growth for Tesla have weighed on investor sentiment.