Three firms that represented a Tesla shareholder seek record fee from the electric vehicle maker because they benefited from the return of Musk’s stock options
The lawyers who successfully argued that Elon Musk’s $56bn pay package was excessive are seeking a record legal fee worth $6bn, payable in the electric car maker’s stock, according to a court filing.
“We recognise that the requested fee is unprecedented in terms of absolute size,” Friday’s filing by the three law firms with the court of chancery in Delaware said.
The fee works out to an hourly rate of $288,888, according to the filing.
The electric vehicle maker is being asked to pay the fee because it benefited from the return of Musk’s pay package, which the legal team said will result in the return to the carmaker of 266m shares.
“This structure has the benefit of linking the award directly to the benefit created and avoids taking even one cent from the Tesla balance sheet to pay fees,” the shareholder legal team said, noting the fee was also tax-deductible to Tesla.
