Jay Clayton: Tesla's Musk pay package vote is also about the retention of Elon Musk going forward

Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss news of Tesla asking shareholders to vote again on Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package, what's at stake in the vote, and more.

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[@magpieeuc4846]

Jay Clayton 2018 with a big smile "he has to get the company to 650 billion in 10 years, this is absolutely crazy"

[@kellymoses8566]

Tesla 2018 - 2022 (timespan of the comp plan): Revenues: $191.4 Billion Gross profit: $45.2 Billion Net income: $17.9 Billion

[@GK-qc5ry]

55 billion is an insane pay packet. It's like 10% of the current value of Tesla? There's compensation and then there's this. I don't like the way he's got the board over a barrel with a threat to leave. About the only thing decent is that he has to stay for 5 more years. I think this is to get control back of his share as he frittered too much of it away to Twitter.

[@RM-rh3mz]

Which was ridiculous. Twitter fudged their numbers. The whole deal should have been void

[@SSD5430]

Without Elon Tesla was about to go bankrupt. Think Fisker

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

Its 5.9 billion actually but the stock went up

[@LaSombraa]

@@SSD5430Tesla existed well before Elon… also he conned one of the original members

[@SSD5430]

@@LaSombraa yes but it grew after Elon took over and became what it is today. Not only did he save it from getting bankrupt, but grew it exponentially.

[@carlosgamez6230]

Curious timing of it all, Tesla announced a 10% layoff of its global workforce and then lost two top executives because they “resigned”. A little lost in why this pay package is the priority for Elon Musk right now

[@trungtpham]

Right, some of us find this to be curious; Tesla should work on one thing at a time...and always prioritize "optics" that could come from any angle at all time.

[@aishaalamoudi599]

0 sense

[@matthiasheymann]

The decision has been hanging over the stock already. Now that the layoff is further pushing the stock down, getting rid of the overhang resulting from the open compensation package issue will remove some of the downward pressure on the stock. This is why it does make sense to resolve this now. I will vote in favor of the compensation package for Elon Musk. I think it is ridiculous that this is taken away from him after he did achieve all these very unlikely (at the time) goals. He has made all the shareholders at the time a load of money, and now denying him the reward that was promised to him is immoral and stealing in my opinion.

[@danielmonge2318]

Because Elon Musk doesn't have a salary. He is paid by these pay packages. He overworked himself to the point of near death to get the results he has today and the judge just came out of left field and decided that he should earn ZERO for all those years of effort. Also, about the 10% layoff... That's misleading as heck. Tesla has laid off 2% to 10% of its workforce every year, for over a decade. Despite that, they always ended each year with more employees than they started. They are now a company with over 140k people in the workforce.

[@mack-uv6gn]

Exactly 👍

[@the_investor9836]

Blackrock and vanguard also own a large percentage of tesla but i don’t see them at the factory lol

[@SteveBehalMUSIC]

Well done Andrew!

[@bigblackron]

his name is Johnathan.

[@lyndakorner2383]

If the Board of Directors was doing its job, the members would have fired Musk by now. They certainly wouldn't be handing him this money.

[@Money8OOST]

Pay him👍

[@TheMadmax0609]

If everyone agreed to a package that was practically unobtainable when Tesla was on the brink of bankruptcy back in 2018 then let him have it.

[@wusup9988]

Elon Musk can leave for all I care. He's tarnishing the Tesla brand.

[@bbbbbbbbb1975]

He build the brand😅

[@wusup9988]

@@bbbbbbbbb1975 He's changed. Now he's turning a lot of people off. I know many people who refuse to buy Teslas because of him. There are lots of good options now.

[@patecar20]

If only they put this much effort into finding away to avoid lay offs.

[@Ye-tf9im]

Bro wait till you find out Apple and google also did lay off a week ago

[@LaSombraa]

Crazy how revenue dropping, demand dropping and they slash 10% of the workforce and dude is now begging for 60B pay package LOL

[@Ye-tf9im]

@@LaSombraa you do realize the pay package was plan years ago and he’s been talking about it for months now?

[@CrypticFoxGaming]

The problem with not appealing is the level of payment the "winning" lawyers are requesting. So Elon would get his pay package back, but there'd be a bunch of shares issued to a bad actor law firm :P

[@andrerodriguez7603]

Kinda funny Melissa asks, how will the SEC see share holders voting for a pay package that was made in the past, isn’t that unusual? I would say the SEC should investigate why a judge cancels a pay package that was voted on by a majority of the share holders in the past. And a single share holder with 9 shares is given $10K by lawyers for a so called ‘class action lawsuit’ which the lawyers can potentially make billions for themselves. And no portion of the billions of dollars not given to tesla share holders, if this was a class action lawsuit. I smell something rotten in Denmark. 😢

[@user-ow1bn6qv8q]

You obviously don't understand the lawsuit and why the judgement was made.

[@aishaalamoudi599]

the judge's central argument is sound; the board is not independent, Musk made his own bed and that board was stuffed with lackies.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

​@@aishaalamoudi599the board isn't but meta board isnt dur yo dual class mark shares. Tesla pay committee is independent though

[@ABanRocks]

You are such an Elon fan boy. I am sure you will bend over if he asked.

[@FinanceNinja]

Not only am I voting FOR this, I would vote for a new tranche at $1 trillion market cap intervals, 1% per tranche. I would gladly give Musk 10% of the company for a 20x on my investment in return within the next 10 years.

[@javadabaron81]

Smh muskrats

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

​@@geelangfordo3272the stock will be the best performing of next year due to how bad its done this year That's how the law of bit numbers work Tesla is 500 billion market cap when mkst think it should be 10 and will be without Elon there to justify it

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

@@geelangfordo3272 it's up 650% and that was the agreement He still passed all 12 tranches. And why not? If Tesla achieved FSD. It'll be the most valuable company on the planet by market cap

[@yolandadeborahdon-pierrot2280]

Elon should resign and start his own company so that he doesn't have to deal with greedy investors.

[@damham5689]

They'd be best off removing the Toddler Billionaire. Also, if they approve this insane package it will lead the way for other CEOs to demand billions in pay packages.

[@dang2055]

I didn’t bother to vote back then but I will make sure to be voting yes this time.

[@ronmatthews2164]

Who makes billions of dollars to work part-time ?

[@Bradgilliswhammyman]

I will vote no

[@ThisIsMikeBlum]

This is atrocious timing for this, and Musk should realize that. Should wait for a turnaround and then bring this to vote. So, NO.

[@kikobiko7088]

This is so insane that should have not even been asked of shareholders. All the directors involved and the Chairmen should be fired to ask something so stupid in the first place. They job is to look after shareholders interest this is beyond reasonable hence why judge rejected it. Chances are even if approved again I am sure there would be another class action and Musk would loose again.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

Its April shareholder meeting It's the law.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

​@@kikobiko7088Elon is the largest shareholder and 77% voted last time Your stock value depends on Elon

[@piaeichberg]

Elon pumped the shareprice at the time with his tweets so the compensation package criteria were met. He dictated the comp package to the board. I know how I will vote on my shares

[@MissMyMusicAddiction]

wouldn't winning the appeal give tesla the chance to avoid the (seemingly) preposterous damages?

[@user-dx4hh3ky2r]

Very interesting, thanks. Now I’ll say what I really think, not!

[@vapsa56]

Whether he gets the pay package or not, where would Musk go? He still has vast holding in Tesla stock. Does his performance justify the compensation package. We all know that the answer is no.

[@mrright1068]

LOL. SEC a disclosure based organization? He forgot to tell Gary Gensler. SEC has been anything but open as it pertains to Crypto.

[@azntoogood]

Yes. I vote yes

[@ABanRocks]

So you vote for your shares to go down. you will be paying him the money. You are nuts.

[@satviksingh8426]

Elon musk should deliver affordable EV rather than asking on packages.

[@jlvandat69]

Things have changed dramatically at Tesla since the first epic pay package was approved.....stock down 50% in the last year, numerous production and quality issues, reduced sales forecasts, etc. My guess is that shareholders will not be so anxious to keep Musk on the payroll this time and may reject the excessively-large compensation package. If they do, odds say Musk departs the company, and claims he "needs to move onto new ventures", e.g., AI

[@dabrain22video]

all your thoughts are incorrect you should learn about the company

[@jlvandat69]

@@dabrain22video "projection"

[@RZH2023]

I will vote for it.

[@MichaelEngeldinger]

hay walt! We got a friend !!

[@2023gainer]

Total Global EV adoption grows annually. * TSLA.. Tesla...FSRN.. Up 115 % week.. Fisker..Ocean Suv EV making waves Globally. * EVTL.. Vertical Aerospace...* JOBY Evtol Jets...* BLNK Blink Charging...* EVGO....* LEV.. Lion Electric, more. The EV Future looks brighter each summer.

[@briane4975]

as a shareholder since 2020 i will vote my 3000 plus shares for the package.

[@ABanRocks]

So you want Tesla shared to go down in value more. Who do you think will be paying that money. Other shareholders like you.

[@bobbybishop5662]

The problem with holding Tesla stock is all the fanboys investing on emotions instead using smart investing logic. Tesla is the worse performing stock on the S&P. The big money on Tesla was made in Nov 21 when Elon starting dumping stock to buy Twitter the smart investors cashed in before his dumping shares crashed the price.

[@truthandjustice6838]

CNBC....yeah right.

[@Maruchiru]

Voting yes if he stops tweeting.

[@petersmith2487]

The share price is now low. He will be rewarded if the price rises sufficiently to meet targets. If not, nada. Shareholders can't lose if the targets are sufficiently high. The test is to develop very difficult but not impossible targets.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

He's already beat the performance goals set in 2018 to 2033

[@lppoqql]

Or Elon knows Tesla might have a rough time ahead and decided to cash out?

[@trungtpham]

Right, the board knows the company has "a rough time ahead" and decided to pay Musk.

[@jordanslingluff287]

@@trungtpham The board is all friends he put on the board. Not like anyone holding him accountable.

[@jasonlucas2328]

Correct!

[@minjikim2161]

@@jordanslingluff287 nobody should he owns the company

[@GamerBoyRobby]

​@trungtpham the pay package was created in 2018 and Elon would only get paid if Tesla hit all the milestones. They (the board) didnt know when the requirements would be hit for this tranche of the pay. The "rough time ahead" has no correlation to the timing of this payment or the court withholding the payment. Also the pay isnt direct cash, it is stock holdings so doesnt impact the company's usable cash at the moment. "rough time ahead" was not specifically about financials. Tesla is doing great financially. Still some of the best margins in the auto industry, little debt and $20B+ cash on hand. The "rough time ahead" mainly refers to how tesla is between growth phases. most factories are already at scale and its goung to be abother year before a new factory comes on-line.

[@JWSpaceX]

pay that man his money. he's the reason why Tesla even exists

[@jordanslingluff287]

He's the only reason it's falling apart as well.

[@fredrik3685]

Many people think so but Tesla was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

[@JWSpaceX]

@jordanslingluff287 falling apart and still a 100 baggers since IPO lol

[@LuxMorgano]

Agree

[@777Outrigger]

@@jordanslingluff287 Falling apart. Really? The highest margins of any car company and the only car company to make a profit on EVs. Tesla has $29 billion in cash and virtually no debt, the best balance sheet in the industry...... Ramp-ups coming soon for the Cybertruck, Robotaxi, the $25,000 car, new factories in Mexico and India, Tesla Energy growing by 20%/yr, AI, FSD, etc., etc.

[@cutehumor]

I hope Harry Chu votes NO 🤣🤣🤣

[@EbenezerNimh]

"HELL NO"

[@shadricbalmoja8664]

Say no He can’t lay off thousands just to get his bonus

[@vp5335]

The Fact that this person has nothing but to give. No one cared about Ukraine war this man helped and he has sold his own house and all wht happen to these people 😢

[@lecookie007]

Voting Yes, and with my middle finger dedicated to the judge and everyone else that's been crying about it for the past yrs/months!

[@markplott4820]

the SEC can G - F- Y.

[@John007John]

The judge ruling that Musk needed no further motivation to grow his existing personal shares in Tesla is preposterous. That's like telling any potential CEO of said company who owns 20-30% shares of said company, that he or she doesn't need a pay package because growth for the company is growth for them personally. That it's a win-win. That logic is utterly absurd. An individuals personal shares should play no role in connection to his or her pay package as an employee. Pay the man. He earned it fair and square.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

​@@geelangfordo3272no the kay committee is independent The board doesnt need to be. Metas board isnt due gi dual class shares Think about it. Elon is the LARGEST shareholder and his brother is a major shareholder from 2004 days You can't have board independence with CEOs having that much equity like founders

[@user-sm1od4en8r]

Vote with my mid finger this time

[@EbenezerNimh]

Hahahaha 😆 Facts

[@SSD5430]

Vote changed just because the stock is temporarily down? 😂

[@rodidy]

@@SSD5430 temporarily down? Do you mean the ~50% over 9 months temporarily down? or the 60%+ down over the past 2 and a half years temporarily down?

[@ABanRocks]

@@SSD5430 He is fired 10% of the workforce. To ask for 56 billion now is unacceptably greedy.

[@LaSombraa]

Idk who the heck would vote yes on this with the abysmal stock performance for the year LOL

[@KBfin...]

These comments pertain to logic rather than Elon Musk. If someone received a bonus in the form of shares five years ago, and those shares have increased in value at an astonishing rate over the past five years to the point where they are now ten times more valuable, it raises several moral questions to consider that the recipient is not eligible for the bonus based on the initial valuation from five years ago. Taking back the shares that have increased nine fold and returning only the amount equivalent to their original value poses many ethical dilemmas. For example, suppose someone received Bitcoin as a bonus 20 years ago, and its value has now increased 100,000 times. Should we then take all the Bitcoin and allow the person to keep only what was worth the original value 20 years ago? Both the share and Bitcoin examples involve risk, as the values of these assets could also have decreased. Therefore, the bonus recipients took a risk, and fortunately, it resulted in a positive outcome

[@broganjosh4729]

If he leaves and creates a new company that for robotaxi's and home taxi's then it will be a disaster for Tesla.

[@ReginaHickman-mw7cw]

Why did the judge disnay and disregard NO JUDGE IS GOING TO DO THAT. Absolutely that isnt a problem for back child support do they add value 😅 Dear God value well i dont know however we can discuss it in court. Value

[@name10books-]

That crook again, Jay Clayton went to work for Ethereum related company after suing Ripple, direct competitor.

[@Qwairy]

Muskovite are out in force in the comment section lmao. he's trying to cash out before tesla dies out

[@sgsniper1]

gonna vote to against it this time

[@trungtpham]

Yes, you should buy a share to get your vote in; or better yet, buy two shares and find a lawyer to bring a lawsuit.

[@SSD5430]

Doesn't sound like you own a single share 😂

[@peterkawa9869]

If musk leaves tesla tesla will die .stock will drop like a stone.so the shareholders have a decision to make😂😂

[@jaycol21]

Stock is already dropping like a stone.

[@user-ql4ud9zr7m]

He said nothing

[@eddieshoffner1531]

Without mmuskthere would be not tesla

[@mynameisChizzle]

Greed knows no bound.

[@MatthewMS.]

Well how else could he keep up that lifestyle?

[@zirakv]

No smart shareholder would reject this, you have no idea what you are talking about!

[@ABanRocks]

@@zirakv You are nothing more than an Elon fan boy. Your views don't matter. Some people actually want to make money.

[@AR-rn8ok]

Yea but 50 billion is ten percent of the company while he poached employees to other firms and alienated his customer base by reposting conspiracies on x. I’m rooting for him and tesla but he doesn’t always make it easy with erratic posts and the delays of cybertruck and model 2

[@GavinsMoviechannel]

If Elon could infuse that cash to space x , humanity could reach mars faster, but noooo, hard work =bad

[@jamespark3510]

another example of 'book smart and morally corrupt' person gets away with anything...........classic

[@LordOtorai]

Let musk leave and let someone else take over.

[@MatthewMS.]

The worst CEO but greatest Grifter in USA 🇺🇸 business history

[@joka5345]

Matt I see you probably learned a new word, but you are not using it right

[@MatthewMS.]

@@joka5345don’t be shy, unpack that

[@MatthewMS.]

I mean exactly what I said.

[@Skank_and_Gutterboy]

Tesla stock value 1/3rd what it was in December 2021. Elon lays off 10% of the workforce. Also Elon: "Pay me $56 billion, I earned it."

[@MichaelEngeldinger]

Mr Jewish friend ! I started a foundation called brilliance to buy a hotel to house homeless in ohio, can ya help a guy out I cant contact elon and I’m not Jewish so people wont listen to me and I need money to buy the hotel

[@drkmwinters]

Sales down, cutting the workforce, he doesn't deserves so much money. Its just a rug pull.

[@SSD5430]

Elon should be paid. 💯👍

[@tooltalk]

This is not going to happen and Elon is going to leave Tesla.a. Tesla stock willl plunge!

[@jaycol21]

Tesla is already plunging. Elon is nothing without Tesla. He’s not going anywhere.

[@LuxMorgano]

Pay Elon, everyone needs that he is 25% inn!

[@aishaalamoudi599]

really? you don't see why that's not simple? at a time the company's earnings estimates are plummeting?

[@ReginaHickman-mw7cw]

RIGHT AND THAT'S NOT Been scene yet, The contract. That's important so we can make sure we're all on the same page of understanding and fair ethical terms. NO you need to ask Elon for the money nit my son. Delaware court will be more than happy to see eithical affairs taking place and listening to me scream all day - Listen china 🇨🇳 tge sec doesnt want problems. What are ypu going todo with the money. BECAUSE YOUR STNKING THINKING IS WAY OUT THERE. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YPUR GPING TO DO WITH THE MONEY YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. You will pay child support period. How about 20 M 50% goes to my son

[@teslacarolina]

Pure stupidity questions. Of course we will vote with Elon!

[@pebos1234567890]

Without Elon you are nothing

[@Track_Star]

TSLA is better off without Elon

[@cpangws]

We will all find out that Elon maybe the greatest con artist of this era.

[@wm6746]

Lets fire 14,000 people... ok, now lets give the guy who spent his last year on twitter spreading misinformation 50 billion.. this will go as well as buying Twitter 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ronaldchristenkkson]

Elon fanboys can't get over the fact that their hero is a greedy little you-know-what.

[@suddeneye9836]

I am not a Musk fan. But pay him. He made the deal, it was approved by all. The gamble paid off. Current economic climate be damned. Pay him..

[@javadabaron81]

It wasn’t approved by all. This comment is so dumb

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

​@@javadabaron8177%

[@user-rw7vf6zz7j]

Go to rehab Musk!

[@cutehumor]

10% layoff of Tesla workforce announced recently and now he wants more stock hahaha

[@dwr1611]

vote no...i am tired of musk

[@Da-King-of-Swing]

I voted yes in 2018 and I would vote YES today tomorrow and next year!!!!

[@gmv0553]

I will vote no! It is time for Elon to put 100% into Tesla or hire someone to run the company! His leadership has diminished considerably in the last year!

[@sarabeth8050]

Good luck with that given that TSLA stock has dropped in half and will drop at least another 50-90% before it stabilizes. The market for EVs has collapsed and TSLA will become a boutique carmaker like Land Rover.

[@willberry6434]

Get rid of this putin bot traitor

[@jasonlucas2328]

If Tesla disappeared tomorrow, would anyone miss Elon Musk? He's not Steve Jobs. The world doesn't owe him anything.

[@user-ff3ib5oc4s]

The same is true for Steve Jobs.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

Tesla is Elon Hes the soul of everything. He has been there since 2004

[@Mr.CEO888]

You vote yes and this company will go bankrupt.

[@ABanRocks]

Elon is nuts and so greedy. To do this while firing 10% of the workforce shows what type of person he really is. 😔

[@leonardschoenborn9209]

fter two and a half years from an all-time high, I now believe that it's fair to say that Musk has failed his investors; furthermore, he has proven himself incapable of restoring and recovering Tesla's valuation. While I agree that Tesla has had its challenges, but Musk himself has been part of the problem. That said, Tesla should not agree on a compensation package until Tesla's stock reaches $300 dollars a share. That is the incentive he needs; otherwise, he gets paid billions and never really has to perform to the level required to drive Tesla's stock back up to $300 dollars a share.

[@truthandjustice6838]

Pay Elon!!

[@meyerdebeer-je6vi]

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[@Heerdennienaber]

This is a massive feat congrats, do you mind sharing how you did it ?what source/platform did you achieve this?

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[@meyerdebeer-je6vi]

elissa dawn sharon is on google. you can search her out

[@Mr.CEO888]

I’m sure if you could go back hell yeah you would sell and rebuy at a lower price .

[@scottjohnson630]

I would be a no I think. He did sell a huge amount for twitter that took the stock way down and has really never recovered. Maybe space x pays him enough that he doesn’t need Tesla and what would he do with the money? Or maybe only if the stock goes up each year for 5 years.

[@Nyhiak]

What a joke. Lay off workers and pay this guy (or anyone) 46B? Because he has pie in the sky bs about cyber truck sales (that nobody wants) and robo taxies that absolutely no one wants. Keep riding stock down .

[@eduardtarniceriu102]

He deserve every penny He 10 X Tesla stock A deal is a deal