Connect with us

News

Judge in Musk pay package case warned of massive legal fee windfall

Credit: Tesla

Published

on

The judge in the Elon Musk pay package case is being warned by the Delaware High Court that the massive legal fee windfall is a major risk.

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick is the judge who ruled that Musk’s massive $56 billion pay package was too much money and ruled it to be not in the best interest of the shareholders. However, the attorneys who took on the case and successfully had the pay package revoked are now set to hit it big with a potential pay rate of $280,000 an hour — an unprecedented amount.

The Delaware High Court told McCormick earlier this month that these massive paydays can “turn into a windfall,” according to a report from Reuters.

Elon Musk’s attorneys plead with Judge to vacate $56bn Tesla pay package decision

A professor at Tulane Law School is quoted in the story, stating that, while some fees, although astronomical, are appropriate, there “is a line where it’s simply past what is necessary to incentivize high-risk cases.”

Advertisement

Of course, high-risk cases deserve high rewards, especially when they are successfully tried. However, is the amount the team of lawyers requests appropriate or even deserved?

That’s where things get interesting. The firms requested an 11 percent fee of the stock that Musk would have gotten if he won the case, which works out to roughly 29 million shares. This is nearly $6 billion in Tesla shares.

They also said they would take $1 billion in cash instead. They believe they deserve it because they won “arguably the largest judgment in U.S. history,” the report states.

This works out to $280,000 an hour, but the highest-paid corporate attorneys are paid around $2,500 an hour. However, a 2012 case that resulted in the largest fee in history at $304 million for a $2 billion judgment against Souther Copper Corp. worked out to about $35,000 an hour.

Musk’s pay package was once again voted on months after McCormick’s ruling and was rectified by shareholders who approved it in an overwhelming fashion. If McCormick decides that the shareholder vote should take precedence over her ruling because the owners of the company, or the investors, voted for it, it puts the Chancellor in a tough position.

Advertisement

Tesla attorney Paul Reed said that Tesla should not be responsible for a large legal fee if that’s the case.

“You asked if Elon Musk was overpaid. We want to ask if the plaintiff’s lawyers are being overpaid,” Reed said.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla MultiPass in Europe expands, allowing ease of access to non-Tesla chargers

Published

on

Credit: TeslaCharging | X

The Tesla MultiPass program in Europe is expanding to new countries. The program was launched earlier this year to assist Tesla owners in having an easier charging experience at non-Tesla EV chargers.

In September, Tesla launched the MultiPass program to owners in the Netherlands, which aimed to enable charging for Tesla owners at third-party stations using the app or keycard. It was developed to avoid having to use multiple apps for each charging manufacturer.

Tesla launches MultiPass to simplify charging at non-Tesla stations

Both access and payment would be performed through the Tesla app, streamlining the entire process.

Today, Tesla expanded the program to Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium, building on its initial rollout and partnering with companies like Fastned to improve EV roaming coverage across the continent.

Advertisement

The program is still in its early stages, and it appears to have some issues, which were highlighted by owners.

Some state that the different designs between chargers can create a bit of a hassle, especially as some do not properly display charging rates and inconsistent pricing displays.

Advertisement

Additionally, Tesla’s Trip Planner and other route planner integrations are not as descriptive as they should be, so some owners suggested reliability and visibility improvements.

Tesla partnered with Electrify America, Rivian’s Adventure Network, and other networks to expand charging availability and make options more readily available.

Tesla’s Supercharger presence in Europe has expanded quite a bit over the past few years, but EVs are much more prevalent there than they are here in the U.S. The company has done a great job of growing the Supercharger presence this year, and there are currently over 11,000 stalls on the continent.

This year, Tesla added 200 total stations and roughly 1,250 total stalls, a 16 percent increase from last year. Europe also has a high concentration of V4 Superchargers, as nearly 42 percent of the stalls on the continent are V4, giving higher charging rates of up to 500 kW.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Cybertruck

Tesla announces delivery timeline for Cybertruck in new market

“Coming soon! Estimated deliveries in Q1 for UAE.”

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla announced its delivery timeline for the Cybertruck as it heads to a new market.

Tesla Cybertruck deliveries started in the United States and Canada back in late 2023. However, the company has been looking to expand the all-electric pickup to new markets, including the Middle East, for which it opened up orders for earlier this year.

Initially, Tesla planned to launch deliveries late this year, but there has been a slight adjustment to the timeline, and the company now anticipates the pickup to make its way to the first adopters in the United Arab Emirates in Q1 2026.

This was confirmed by the Tesla Cybertruck program’s lead engineer, Wes Morrill:

Tesla first opened orders for the Cybertruck in the Middle East in mid-September of this year. It will be priced at AED 404,900 for the Dual Motor All-Wheel-Drive ($110,254) and AED 454,900 ($123,869) for the Cyberbeast trim.

The Cybertruck has been a highly anticipated vehicle in many parts of the world, but its ability to be sold in various regions is what is truly causing delays in the company’s efforts to bring the electric pickup worldwide.

Tesla confirms Cybertruck will make its way out of North America this year

In Europe, various agencies have challenged the design of the Cybertruck, arguing that it is unsafe for pedestrians due to its sharp edges and “boxy” design.

Advertisement

Agencies in the EU have said the vehicle’s “blade-like” protrusions are a violation of rules that ban sharp exterior edges that could cause severe injuries.

In Asia, Tesla will likely have to develop a smaller, more compact version of the vehicle as it does not align with local standards for urban environments. However, Tesla filed for energy consumption approval for the Cybertruck in December 2024, but there has been no real update on the status of this particular inquiry.

Overall, these issues highlight a real bottleneck in futuristic vehicle designs and the out-of-date regulations that inhibit the vehicle from becoming more widely available. Of course, Tesla has teased some other designs, including a more traditional pickup or even a compact Cybertruck build, but the company is not one to shy away from its commitments.

Nevertheless, the Cybertruck will appear in the Middle East for the first time in 2026.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla teases new AI5 chip that will revolutionize self-driving

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk revealed new information on Tesla’s AI5, previously known as Hardware 5, chip, for self-driving, which will be manufactured by both Samsung and TSMC.

The AI5 chip is Tesla’s next-generation hardware chip for its self-driving program, Optimus humanoid robots, and other AI-driven features in both vehicles and other applications. It will be the successor to the current AI4, previously known as Hardware 4, which is currently utilized in Tesla’s newest vehicles.

Elon Musk reveals Tesla’s HW5 release date, and that it won’t be called HW5

AI5 is specially optimized for Tesla use, as it will work alongside the company’s Neural Networks to focus on real-time inference to make safe and logical decisions during operation. It was first teased by Tesla in mid-2024 as Musk called it “an amazing design” and “an immense jump” from the current AI4 chip.

It will be roughly 4o times faster, have 8 times the raw compute, 9 times the memory capacity, 5 times the memory bandwidth, and 3 times the efficiency per watt.

Advertisement

It will be manufactured by both TSMC and Samsung at their Arizona and Texas fab locations, respectively.

Here’s what Musk revealed about the chip yesterday:

Different Versions

Samsung and TSMC will make slightly different versions of the AI5 chip, “simply because they translate designs to physical form differently.” However, Musk said the goal is that its AI software would work identically.

This was a real concern for some who are familiar with chip manufacturing, as Apple’s A9 “Chipgate” saga seemed to be echoing through Tesla.

Back in 2015, it was found that Apple’s A9 chips had different performances based on who manufactured them. TSMC and Samsung were both building the chips, but it was found that Samsung’s chips had shorter battery life than TSMC-fabricated versions.

Advertisement

Apple concluded that the variance was about 2-3 percent. However, Tesla will look to avoid this altogether.

Release and Implementation into Vehicles

Musk said that some samples will be available next year, and “maybe a small number of units” would equip the chip as well. However, high-volume production is only possible in 2027.

This means, based on Tesla’s own timeline for Cybercab production in Q2 2026, early iterations of the vehicle would rely on AI4. Many believe AI4 can be utilized for solved self-driving, but the power of subsequent versions, including AI5 and beyond, will be more capable.

AI6 and Beyond

AI6 will utilize the same fabs as AI5, but there would be a theoretical boost in performance by two times with this version.

AI6 could enter volume production by mid-2028. However, AI7, which Musk only briefly mentioned, “will need different fabs, as it is more adventurous.”

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending