Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk's $56bn pay package

(Reuters) -- Tesla shareholders approved CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package, the electric vehicle maker said on Thursday, a big thumbs-up to his leadership and an enticement for keeping his focus on his biggest source of wealth.

Shareholders also approved a proposal to move the company's legal home to Texas from Delaware, Tesla said at its annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. They also approved other proposals including the re-election of two board members: Musk's brother Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Musk had tipped off late on Wednesday that the proposals were garnering huge support and thanked shareholders. A chart on his social media platform X showed the resolutions were set to pass by wide margins.

The approval also underscores the support that Musk enjoys from Tesla's retail investor base, many of whom are vocal fans of the mercurial billionaire. The proposal passed despite opposition from some large institutional investors and proxy firms.

The Tesla CEO could still face a long legal fight to convince a Delaware judge who invalidated the package in January, describing it as "unfathomable." He may also face fresh lawsuits on the package, which would be the largest in U.S. corporate history.

Shareholder approval for the pay serves as both an endorsement of Musk's tenure and an acknowledgment that investors do not want to risk the company's future.

In January, Musk threatened to build AI and robotics products outside of Tesla if he failed to gain enough voting control, which essentially required the 2018 pay package to be approved.

He shifted the company's focus to robotaxis, shelving cheaper mass-market electric cars, to the concern of some investors who feared the