Delaware

Elon Musk tries again to get a $56 billion pay plan back as his revolt roils Delaware

Published

1 year ago

March 12, 2025

Elon Musk tries again to get a billion pay plan back as his revolt roils Delaware

Elon Musk made good on his promise to appeal a controversial decision by a Delaware judge who wiped out his $56 billion performance-based compensation plan as the Tesla (TSLA) CEO leads a revolt that is roiling that state’s politics.

The billionaire, along with current and former Tesla directors, argued in an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court on Tuesday that a refusal by Delaware Chancery Court judge Kathaleen McCormick to reinstate Musk’s pay despite approvals from Tesla shareholders contained multiple errors that should lead to the ruling’s reversal.

“Yes, Tesla has a chance” to succeed with its new appeal, said Tulane University law professor Ann Lipton. But “the situation is complicated by the fact that the entire decision has turned into a political football.”

McCormick initially voided the pay pact in January 2024 and did so for a second time last December based on the claims of a single shareholder who alleged in a purported class-action lawsuit that Musk’s influence over Tesla made him a de facto controller of Tesla.

McCormick concluded that “extensive ties” between Musk and the people negotiating the pay package and a lack of public disclosure about Musk’s relationships with those who approved the deal made it invalid under Delaware’s corporate laws.

Elon Musk and President Trump in a Tesla at the White House on Tuesday. (Pool vía AP) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

Musk responded by pledging to pull the incorporations of his many companies, including Tesla, out of Delaware.

These so-called “Dexits” were followed by decisions from executives at other companies to reincorporate elsewhere, including Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, as some aired their frustrations with Delaware’s powerful Chancery Court.

The recent high-profile departures are roiling a state that, for roughly the past century, has been the dominant place to incorporate because of its so-called corporate-friendly laws, specialized business courts, and ease of filing company documents.

The state’s newly elected governor, Matt Meyer, launched a working group to study mounting complaints, and lawmakers are trying to push through a bill that would limit investor lawsuits by allowing corporate boards to further insulate their directors, officers, and controlling shareholders from liability.

The measure is not retroactive and, therefore, wouldn’t absolve Musk or other litigants from past determinations.

Semafor reported last week that the legislation was prompted by warnings from key corporate attorneys that big-name companies, including Walmart (WMT), might move out of the state.

The political drama in Delaware could play a role in what the state’s highest court decides to do about Musk’s pay.

Lipton, the Tulane professor, cited the many complications: “Musk attacking the Delaware courts, his allies threatening to leave the state, and the state legislature on the verge of passing a new statute that reads like a direct rebuke to the Delaware courts.”

“It’s not clear to me whether that’s likely to influence the Delaware Supreme Court — in either direction,” she added.

What Musk and the Tesla directors are arguing in their appeal is that the lower court applied the wrong, heightened legal test to evaluate actions taken by Tesla’s board around the compensation plan.

They said McCormick incorrectly subjected the board’s actions to the “entire fairness” standard, then misapplied it. That standard is applied to protect shareholders when a controlling shareholder negotiates a self-interested deal with the board.

Musk’s status as a limited minority stockholder at the time of the negotiations, they said, should not have led to his designation as a controlling shareholder.

The judge's bench is seen in a courtroom at the Delaware Supreme Court in Dover, Delaware, U.S., June 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly — The judge’s bench is seen in a courtroom at the Delaware Supreme Court. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly · REUTERS / Reuters

New York University School of Law professor Marcel Kahan said the Supreme Court will decide what particular issues to address in the case and he suspects that it will want to clarify the definition of “controlling shareholder.”

That matter is now the subject of the controversial proposed legislation in Delaware to amend the state’s corporate law. The proposed changes would exempt shareholders with less than 33.3% ownership.

“My guess is the court will want to put its five cents in on ‘controller creep,’” Kahan said, referring to the court’s expansion of circumstances that can subject a shareholder to “controller” status.

“I would not at all be surprised if the court comes to a different finding on whether Musk is a controlling shareholder than the Chancery court,” Kahan added.

Musk and the Tesla directors are also arguing that McCormick’s invalidation of a second Tesla shareholder vote about Musk’s compensation constituted yet another error because the vote showed that the electric vehicle company’s shareholders “resoundingly rejected” her initial finding that Musk was overpaid.

The fact that Tesla stockholders have since received a return of more than $700 billion on their investment in Musk, they said, shows the compensation plan exemplified alignment between executive and stockholder interests.

With McCormick’s decision, shareholders “have lost their say in compensating the company’s once-in-a-generation CEO” and “lost certainty in the company they own.”

This Jan. 4, 2019 photo shows Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick. Refereeing a $44 billion court fight that pits the world’s richest man against one of its most influential social networking sites is surely a daunting task, but McCormick, presiding over the case has never backed away from a challenge. Billionaire Elon Musk has been battling Twitter Inc. in Delaware’s Court of Chancery since Musk announced in July 2022, that he wanted to scuttle an agreement to acquire the social media giant for $54.20 a share. (Eric Crossan via AP) — Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the judge who voided Elon Musk’s pay. (Eric Crossan via AP) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

“The bottom line of the Court of Chancery’s decisions is that a compensation plan resulting in spectacular growth should be revoked because it was somehow unfair to the very stockholders who benefited from that growth and overwhelmingly approved the plan — twice.”

For Musk to keep his $56 billion, said Kahan of New York University, the court would have to reverse both McCormick’s finding that Musk was a controlling shareholder at the time he negotiated his pay deal with Tesla’s board and her finding that the shareholder revote failed to “cleanse” — take steps to legally validate — the flawed transaction.

As for cleansing, he said, “I can see the court saying, ’You were a little too tough here.’” Cleansing solely shifts the burden of proving whether $56 billion was fair from the defendants to the plaintiffs.

“If $56 billion is too high, it doesn’t follow that zero is the right amount, right? Zero may be too low.”

In that case, the court could send the case back to the lower court and instruct it to pick an amount of fair compensation.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed.

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Delaware

Delaware will collab with 2 Chainz, years after huge event canceled

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Delaware will collab with 2 Chainz, years after huge event canceled

Rapper 2 Chainz will visit the Wilmington Public Library on July 21 for a book talk.
The event promotes his new book, “The Voice in My Head is God,” a New York Times Bestseller.
The Grammy-winning artist was scheduled to perform in Delaware in 2023, but the concert was canceled.

Southern rap icon 2 Chainz is coming for Delaware’s neck this summer in a special event highlighting his recently released New York Times Bestseller, “The Voice in My Head is God.”

This book talk is set for Wilmington Public Library on July 21. Folks interested in attending are required to purchase the book at registration. The cost of a ticket includes the book.

Here’s what to know about 2 Chainz, “The Voice in My Head is God” and how he was involved in one of the greatest hip-hop concerts that Delaware never got to see.

Who is rap star 2 Chainz?

Tauheed Epps, better known by the stage name 2 Chainz, is a 48-year-old Georgia native who used to rap under the controversial moniker Ti– Boi when he was a member of the duo Playaz Circle, alongside his friend Dolla Boy. In 2007, the duo signed to Ludacris’ Disturbing tha Peace (DTP), a label that operated under Def Jam, according to an article from Revolt.TV.

That same year, Playaz Circle dropped the major song “Duffle Bag Boy” featuring Lil Wayne. The Atlanta-area rapper eventually went solo and began his journey as a trap music icon who switched his name to 2 Chainz, under which he’s gained a ridiculous amount of music collaborations and success.

According to RIAA.com, 2 Chainz has racked up over a dozen singles and albums combined that have each gone platinum (including “I’m Different” and “Based on a T.R.U. Story”). That doesn’t even include the multiple guest records he’s appeared on that have gone platinum, too.

From Lil Wayne to Drake, 2 Chainz has worked with everyone

Some of the artists 2 Chainz has teamed with include Quavo and Gucci (“Good Drank”), Wiz Khalifa on the song “We Own It” (Fast and Furious) and J Cole (“Chris Tucker”), plus repeat collabs with artists like Kanye West (“Champions,” “The One”), Drake (“Sacrifices,” “No Lie”) and a joint album with Lil Wayne (“Welcome 2 Collegegrove”).

The rapper 2 Chainz has been nominated for six Grammys Awards and won his first in 2017 for Best Rap Performance on Chance The Rapper’s tune “No Problem.”

That time 2 Chainz brought in LeBron James

Thinking outside of the box, 2 Chainz brought on LeBron James (yep, the same NBA superstar who reportedly is considering signing with the Philadelphia 76ers) as an A&R for his 2019 album: “Rap or Go To the League,” Billboard reported.

2 Chainz releases new book, ‘The Voice in My Head is God’

The rapper’s new book released this past spring and highlights how 2 Chainz, raised by a single mom while his dad served prison time, chose to step away from the streets and discovered “his purpose: not by fame or fear, but by faith,” per the book’s synopsis on Amazon.

“In his most personal work yet, Grammy Award–winning rapper 2 Chainz shares the spiritual journey behind his success, offering a raw, reflective, and deeply motivational meditation on the inner voice that’s guided him his whole life: God.”

2 Chainz and the super Delaware concert that never was

One of Delaware’s greatest hip-hop concerts to never happen was supposed to include several rap legends a few years ago, and 2 Chainz was one of them.

This super concert was titled “Masters of the Mic: Hip Hop 50 Tour,” a celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, and it was set to be held at Frawley’s Stadium in Wilmington in 2023.

The tour stop to Delaware was slated to feature a lineup that included a blend of contemporary rappers and pioneers such as Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Fat Joe, Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, EPMD, Rakim and Slick Rick.

Just days before the event, however, The Grand in Wilmington announced on social media that the plug had been pulled on the concert “due to circumstances beyond our control.”

A big reason the event was sunk is likely due to the price of tickets, which were initially $170 per person. The Grand offered the same tickets for $100 on Facebook not long before the show was canceled.

This upcoming book talk with 2 Chainz should be redemption for Delaware fans who missed him because of the canceled tour stop in 2023.

How much are tickets to see 2 Chainz in Delaware?

Interested guests are required to purchase 2 Chainz’s new book, “The Voice in my Head is God,” to attend his Delaware book talk. The price of ticketed admission is $28.52 and includes the book. Be warned: Tickets may not be available if you wait too long. Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite.com.

Where in Delaware is 2 Chainz for his book talk?

Wilmington Public Library (10 E. 10th St., Wilmington) from 6 to 8 p.m. July 21. For more information, visit facebook.com/WilmingtonLibraryDE or Wilmington Public Library’s Eventbrite page or call (302) 571-7400.

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.

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Delaware

Plans advance for Delaware city’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant

Published

17 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Plans advance for Delaware city’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant

The city’s Planning Commission has approved development plans for Delaware’s first Chick-fil-A, and the plans will now go to City Council.
The restaurant is part of the new Trailhead Crossing development near Sunbury Road.
There isn’t an opening date set yet, but once City Council approval is received crews will be constructing the building this year and into 2027.

Plans for one of the nation’s most popular fast-food chains to open a location in the city of Delaware are moving forward.

Chick-fil-A is planning a new 5,033-square-foot restaurant with a double drive-through lane on a nearly 2-acre site on Delaware’s east side.

The development plans are headed to Delaware City Council after the city’s Planning Commission approved them July 1.

This location would be the first Chick-fil-A in the city of Delaware, but not in the county. The chain has a location in Lewis Center and three in the Polaris area, according to the company’s website.

The popular chicken restaurant, a Chipotle location and other to-be-announced restaurants and retail are part of a new Trailhead Crossing development planned on the eastern edge of Delaware near Sunbury Road (State Route 36) and Sky View Lane, documents indicate. City council approved rezoning the site in February.

Get more Delaware County news: Subscribe to The Dispatch’s free weekly Delaware County newsletter, The Delaware Dispatch.

The restaurant will include 92 indoor seats, an outdoor patio with 20 seats and 68 parking spots, planning documents show.

An internal access drive connecting to Sky View Lane from the west and Biltmore Drive from the north will be built within the site and will connect to all the lots within the Trailhead Crossing development. The access from Sky View Lane will be right-in/right-out only. The site will not have access directly from Sunbury Road, city documents state.

Chris Tebbe, an engineer with the Dublin-based firm Tebbe Civil Engineering, didn’t know an exact opening date for the restaurant, but said once plans are approved by the City Council, crews will be working on the location this year into next year.

Delaware County and eastern Columbus suburbs reporter Maria DeVito can be reached at mdevito@dispatch.com and @mariadevito13.dispatch.com on Bluesky and @MariaDeVito13 on X.

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Delaware

Kids get hands-on learning during summer camp at Delaware County Technical School

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

Kids get hands-on learning during summer camp at Delaware County Technical School

Wednesday, July 8, 2026 10:19PM

Kids get hands-on learning during camp at Delco Technical School

ASTON, Pa. (WPVI) — Summer camps are in full swing, and on Wednesday the Action Cam was in Aston, where kids are getting some hands-on learning at Delaware County Technical School.

Middle school students are exploring career pathways as they build, cook, design and create in state-of-the-art classrooms.

They are doing everything from carpentry to cosmetology.

By the end of camp, the kids will create STEAM-based projects that they can take home.

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