Three cheers for the Delaware judge who stood up to Elon Musk

At last: a judgment that injects a dose of sanity into the process of handing out executive rewards

Was the world's richest man overpaid?" begins Kathaleen McCormick in her ruling from the Delaware court of chancery. You bet. An incentive package worth up to $55.8bn for Elon Musk at Tesla in 2018 was over the top, unnecessary to secure the great man's services and thus unfair" to other shareholders because of the dilutive effect on their holdings. Read the 200-page judgment and it's hard to disagree with any step in her argument.

Musk and his fanclub are enraged, naturally. I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters," said Tesla's chief executive. And it's true that shareholders approved the scheme by a 73% majority back in 2018. Some said on Musk's X that they'd happily do so again today because he hit his performance-related targets and Tesla's value improved by a turbo-charged $600bn. (Back in 2018, remember, the electric vehicle company was worth $50bn-ish and there was a lively debate in the investment world about whether it would soon run out of money.)