Delaware

If Elon Musk and his buddies think Delaware is too strict, we've got a problem

Published

2 years ago

February 11, 2024

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If Elon Musk and his buddies think Delaware is too strict, we've got a problem

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There’s a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal about how billionaires like Elon Musk are now whining about Delaware—which literally has more corporations than people—because it imposes too many rules. Musk is fretting because a Delaware business court ruled that his $50 billion-plus Tesla compensation package, which was approved by a loyalist board, was excessive and therefore unfair to shareholders who had sued to stop it.

As the New York Times reported, the judge deemed the approval process “deeply flawed” and voided Musk’s contract, calling it “the largest potential compensation plan in the history of public markets.”

The Times noted in a follow-up piece that Musk owns about 411 million Tesla shares, worth around $78 billion, and that he’d pledged 238 million shares for personal loans. Borrowing against their vast portfolios, as ProPublica has detailed, is how Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, and other ludicrously wealthy Americans have managed to legally avoid the lion’s share of income taxes.

Musk publicly lamented the Delaware decision that would dislodge him from the “world’s richest man” perch. He says he’ll seek to reincorporate in Texas, where Space X is headquartered, and where, as my colleague Abby Vesoulis reports, Musk has been flexing his plutocratic power at the expense of longtime residents.

Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2024

The Journal points out that Musk isn’t the only major shareholder chafing at Delaware’s rules, noting that Texas is among the newbies vying to attract more corporate registrations and that another contender, Nevada, offers “broad protections for directors and officers in many cases that Delaware wouldn’t, including involving improper personal gain.”

A state going out of its way to protect corporate crooks may shock you—or should—but Musk’s hissy fit is merely the latest skirmish in the race to the bottom for state corporate oversight. Both Vesoulis and Casey Michel, author of the book American Kleptocracy, detailed in our American Oligarchy package how competition between states to attract companies—which tend to overpromise and under-deliver on jobs and economic development—has resulted in a downward spiral that gives unelected billionaires power over local affairs and has made the United States the go-to destination for illicit wealth, foreign and domestic.

Need a tax haven? A place to hide and launder stolen cash? Why bother with the Caymans or the Bahamas when you can get those services in South Dakota—and you don’t even have to relocate there. If you’re looking for other options, check out Alaska, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, Florida, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wyoming, and the original culprit: Delaware.

During the 1910s, Michel writes:

Not only did Delaware’s legislature up the ante on enticements—exempting corporations from taxes and reimbursing their directors for damages incurred by litigious shareholders—but its Chancery Court began producing the most pro-corporate rulings in the country. For good measure, the state also granted anonymity to anyone who wanted to register a company there.
By 1929, 42 percent of state income came from corporate registration fees and taxes. With a population of a tad more than 1 million, Delaware is now home to 1.9 million corporations, including more than 300,000 registered in 2022 alone. Each year, it rakes in some $2 billion in corporate taxes and fees, far more than any other state. The constituents of Delaware lawmakers, “in a very real sense, are companies,” as the University of Cambridge’s Jason Sharman, an expert on money laundering and corporate regulation, has noted.

Now Texas is in the running too? All I can say is, when a few overpaid moguls can move the impunity needle by griping that Delaware isn’t permissive enough, we’ve got a problem.

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Delaware

Delaware County school employee accused of sex assault of minor in Texas

Published

8 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Delaware County school employee accused of sex assault of minor in Texas

RADNOR, Pa. – Authorities say a Delaware County school employee is accused of traveling to Texas to sexually assault a minor he met online.

What we know:

Michael Robinson, 43, was taken into custody near Radnor Middle School where investigators say he worked as a paraprofessional.

Investigators believe Robinson traveled to Tyler, Texas in the summer of 2024 to meet a minor he had connected with online.

Robinson, according to U.S. Marshals, allegedly sexually assaulted the teen over the course of a weekend.

Delaware County school employee accused of sex assault of minor in Texas

Prosecutors in Smith County, Texas charged Robinson in December with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child Under 15-years-old.

Robinson is being held at a Delaware County jail where he is awaiting extradition to Texas.

What they’re saying:

U.S. Marshals in Pennsylvania said Robinson’s arrest shows that “sexual predators will always be pursued relentlessly.”

The Radnor Township School District said Robinson has been placed on leave and will not have contact with students.

“Parents of the limited number of children to whom the employee was assigned were contacted by the administration immediately.”

The district said it is cooperating with law enforcement and has “no information indicating misconduct involving district students.”

Crime & Public SafetyDelaware CountyNews

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Delaware

Rehoboth cancels 2026 Polar Bear Plunge after major snowstorm

Published

20 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Rehoboth cancels 2026 Polar Bear Plunge after major snowstorm

Rehoboth Beach has canceled the upcoming 2026 Lewes Polar Bear Plunge and 5K Run to the Plunge as the Sussex County resort town continues dealing with the aftermath of last weekend’s snowstorm, organizers of the annual Special Olympics fundraiser said on Feb. 26.

“Rehoboth Beach is navigating significant challenges because of the snowstorm,” a Special Olympics Delaware email announced. “At present, the boardwalk and all beach crossings remain snow covered and many sidewalks throughout downtown Rehoboth are as well.”

The plunge and 5K had been rescheduled to March 1 after severe weather conditions in late January caused it to be moved from its original Feb. 1 date.

The plunge will not be rescheduled for this year.

Last weekend’s storm brought nearly 2 feet of snow to parts of Sussex, closing hundreds of roads when trees and wires were downed. There were also power outages across the county, including Rehoboth Beach which had to restore power to its wastewater treatment facility.

Plunging for a cause

The polar bear plunge is one of Special Olympics Delaware’s more popular fundraisers, drawing more than 4,000 participants last year.

In recent years, the event has been bringing in more than a million dollars for Special Olympics Delaware. Last year, plunge events drew $1.3 million, just shy of the record-breaking $1.5 million raised in 2024.

Alex Seymore, Special Olympics Delaware’s director of digital media, said the organization had already raised more than $1 million from this year’s event.

“We expect a small impact,” Seymore told Delaware Online/The News Journal. “But again, we’re showing that we’ve raised over a million dollars.

He added they are reviewing how the cancelation will impact them and their services.

“It’s been just a couple hours, so we’re not completely positive how it will impact things in the long run,” he said. “We’re thankful for everybody that’s helped raise this money through this time.”

What is still occurring

While the plunge and 5k and been canceled this year, there are other indoor events that will continue as scheduled:

Feb. 27

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. – pick up packets and souvenir sales for the Plunge and 5K Run to the Plunge at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave, Rehoboth Beach.

Feb. 28

noon to 2 p.m. Fire & Ice in the Atlantic Sands Ballroom, 1 Baltimore Ave, Rehoboth Beach.
2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Restaurant chili contest.
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. – pick up packets and souvenir sales for the Plunge and 5K Run to the Plunge at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave, Rehoboth Beach.

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

Trump Accounts for kids; are they available in Delaware?

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Trump Accounts for kids; are they available in Delaware?

President Donald Trump touted his Trump Accounts for kids platform during his State of the Union address Tuesday, Feb. 24, months before the savings account program goes live this summer.

Roughly 63% of parents open bank accounts for the newborns and young children according to The Financial Brand, showing that in general, opening a bank accounts for your child is a good idea.

But what, exactly, are Trump Accounts for kids, and does it make sense for you to open one for your child? Here’s everything you need to know.

Trump Account for kids explained

The IRS explained in a memo Trump Accounts will be available for any children under 18, with $1,000 seed money available for newborns and very young children.

That account will be seeded with federal government funds.

“A Trump account is a type of traditional individual retirement account that is established for the exclusive benefit of an eligible individual and that is designated at its establishment as a Trump account,” read the IRS’ Trump Accounts memo. “Upon an election under the pilot program, $1,000 is paid by the Secretary to the Trump account of an eligible child.

“An eligible child means a qualifying child who is born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029, who is a U.S. citizen, and for whom no prior pilot program election has been made.”

The Trump Accounts website confirms parents do not need to make a contribution, but can deposit up to $5,000 a year into the interest-bearing account.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in comments published Jan. 28 a single $1,000 deposit into a Trump Account at birth should grow to an estimated $500,000 by the age of retirement.

When will Trump Accounts for kids lunch, and can I apply in Delaware?

Trump Accounts for kids will go live on Monday, July 5, and parents in Delaware are allowed to apply for the nationwide offering when it opens.

Until then, you can visit the Trump Accounts website to add your name to the email list to get an update when the service goes live.

The IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury released Trump Accounts guidance you can read before opening an account.

Problems with Trump Accounts for kids

While opening a Trump Account for your child may seem a good thing, TIME uncovered a few problems with President Donald Trump’s namesake account service.

“The program may be open to every child, but its benefits will flow overwhelmingly to families with the means to contribute thousands of dollars a year. What could have been a leveling tool instead risks becoming a widening wedge between the haves and the have-nots,” read a portion of TIME’s take. “For a family living paycheck-to-paycheck that is unable to add anything beyond the government’s $1,000 seed deposit, the balance reaches just $5,839 by age 18. “

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies echoed much of that sentiment, and said Trump Accounts for kids will have the opposite effect from its stated goals.

Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.

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