FX168 Financial News Agency (Europe) reported that a Delaware judge in the USA ruled on Monday, December 2, to once again reject Tesla CEO Elon Musk's 56 billion US dollars compensation plan, despite the approval by the company's shareholders in June. With Tesla's stock price surging after Donald Trump's victory, the value of this compensation has now reached 101 billion US dollars.

Reuters reported that this ruling was made by Chief Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Chancery Court. Previously, in January of this year, she made a ruling deeming Tesla's compensation plan excessive and revoked it, which surprised investors and added uncertainty to Musk's future at Tesla.

(Source: Reuters)

Following the court's decision, Musk tweeted, "Shareholders should control company voting, not judges."

Tesla emphasized in a statement, "The ruling is wrong, and we will appeal."

The statement added that the US judge overturned the decision of the vast majority of shareholders.

Once McCormick issues the final order, Musk and Tesla can appeal to the Supreme Court of Delaware. The final order could be issued as early as this week, and the appeal process may take up to a year to complete.

Tesla stated in court documents that the judge should acknowledge the subsequent shareholder vote in June supporting Musk's compensation plan and reinstate his pay. Musk is the driving force of the company and the source of many advancements.

MacKenzie argued that Tesla's board of directors had no authority to 'reset' to restore Musk's compensation package. In her 101-page opinion, she mentioned, "If the court allows the losing party to fabricate new facts to modify the judgment, the litigation will become endless."

She mentioned that approvals like Tesla's must take place before trial, and companies cannot approve transactions involving conflicts of interest controllers. She has identified Musk's control over salary negotiations.

She also pointed out that Tesla made several significant misrepresentations in its proxy statement regarding the voting results and cannot claim the vote result as a 'panacea,' thus providing a reason to restore Musk's compensation.

Following the ruling, Tesla's stock price fell by 1.4% in after-hours trading.

Gary Black, a future fund managing partner holding Tesla stocks, expressed on Twitter that he believes the Delaware Supreme Court is more pragmatic than MacKenzie. He wrote, "I doubt this ruling will be resolved quickly, and in the process, it is likely to be overturned by a more moderate court."

If the company achieves performance and valuation goals, the compensation package will grant Musk stock options.

Although the bonus was initially valued at up to $56 billion, Tesla's stock has soared by 42% since November 5th when Musk supported Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

Since then, the value of this compensation has reached approximately 101 billion US dollars.