(Reuters) – Tesla shareholders will vote on CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package on June 13 that a Delaware judge voided in January, calling the sum “unfathomable” and because she found the billionaire improperly controlled the process.
Musk’s proposed pay package, the largest in corporate America, has no salary or cash bonus and sets rewards based on Tesla’s market value rising to as much as $650 billion over the next 10 years from 2018.
Here are a few other CEO pays that have faced a tough fight:
Year Company Description
2023 BP Former CEO Bernard Looney had more
than $40 million cut in his
compensation after the British oil
giant concluded he misled the board
over personal relationships with
colleagues.
2021 McDonald’s Former CEO Steve Easterbrook agreed to
return compensation worth $105 million
in equity awards and cash to settle a
lawsuit over alleged lies about
affairs.
2019 CBS CBS Corp fired Leslie Moonves for
cause and denied a $120 million
severance package after the former
chief executive was accused of sexual
harassment and assault that allegedly
took place before and after he joined
the company.
2017 Uber Travis Kalanick, Uber’s co-founder and
CEO, was forced to resign after a
series of scandals plagued the
company, including allegations of
sexual harassment and a toxic
workplace culture. Shareholders later
sued the board, alleging it failed to
properly oversee Kalanick and allowed
the scandals to happen.
2017 Equifax After a massive data breach exposed
millions of customers’ personal
information, Equifax’s CEO received
significant criticism for his handling
of the crisis and a hefty bonus.
Shareholders filed suit alleging the
board failed to properly oversee the
CEO.
2016 Viacom A shareholder lawsuit claimed that
Viacom and CBS Corp’s Executive
Chairman Sumner Redstone was
improperly paid millions though “he
was physically and mentally
incapacitated”.
2011 Occidental CEO of Occidental Petroleum Ray Irani,
Petroleum was criticized for excessive pay after
his compensation grew 40% in 2009 to
$31.4 million. Shareholders pushed for
board seats.
2002 Worldcom After an accounting scandal that led
to financial fraud, shareholders sued
the company over excessive
compensation awarded to executives,
including the CEO.
(Reporting by Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Devika Syamnath)
