Tesla boss Elon Musk has had a rough few weeks.
After less-than-thrilling reactions to a fourth quarter earnings call that sent Tesla’s stock down to $180.06 on Jan. 25, Musk already had some thinking to do about how to regain his EV company’s former supercharged growth.
But Musk took another blow on Jan. 26, when a Delaware court ruled that the CEO’s estimated $56 billion pay package needed to be unwound — the largest CEO pay package in America — and knocking the billionaire off his throne as the world’s richest man.
Related: Elon Musk is threatening to leave Delaware; here’s why Tesla is there in the first place
Musk, naturally, did not take the news well, tweeting on Jan. 30, “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware” as well as asking his followers on X if he should move Tesla’s (TSLA) – Get Free Report incorporation state to Texas.
There’s also someone else who finds Delaware’s ruling unfair — investor Cathie Wood, who has historically been one of Musk’s biggest supporters in terms of her investments in Tesla.
Wood took to X on the evening of Feb. 4 to share a thread about her thoughts on the ruling, starting off by saying that it’s “un-American, an assault on investor rights, and an insult to the Board of Directors of one of the most stunningly successful companies in US history.”
I believe the Delaware court decision, forcing #Tesla to void the March 2018 vote on Elon Musk’s performance-based pay package, is un-American, an assault on investor rights, and an insult to the Board of Directors of one of the most stunningly successful companies in US history.
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) February 5, 2024
Wood continued by explaining that Ark Invest (ARKK) – Get Free Report had gone through the Delaware Court decision and found that it “missed the forest for the trees, spectacularly and unfairly.”
Working with @ARKInvest’s General Counsel, who analyzed the 200+ page Delaware Court decision, I have concluded that legal nuances and the controversial interpretation of them have missed the forest for the trees, spectacularly and unfairly.
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) February 5, 2024
Wood also called meeting the performance goals the Tesla Board gave to Musk a “Herculean task”, but notes that Tesla hit Ark’s bull case target price two years earlier than anticipated. She also stressed that Tesla’s story “epitomizes why people have flocked to America,” calling Delaware’s ruling a “travesty.”
Tesla’s Board incentivized @elonmusk with a Herculean task that most analysts and auto manufacturers did not believe possible. Based on our research centered on Wright’s Law, we believed that Tesla could meet the performance goals, but only with brilliant execution.
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) February 5, 2024
Thanks to Elon’s ingenuity and dogged determination, Tesla hit our bull case target price in 2021, two years earlier than we anticipated. Since then, many shareholders have shared stories with us about how our research inspired their investment in $TSLA and changed their lives.
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) February 5, 2024
They bought their first homes, put their children through college, and added to their retirement nest eggs, thanks to $TSLA. Tesla’s story epitomizes why people have flocked to America. The Delaware court’s decision is an embarrassment to our country’s ideals and a travesty.
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) February 5, 2024
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
