Musk says Tesla shareholders voting yes for his $56 bln pay package

Teslashareholders were voting in favor of a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk and to move the electric vehicle maker's legal home to Texas، the CEO said on social media on Wednesday.

"Thanks for your support!" Musk said on his social media platform X late Wednesday. In his post، Musk included charts showing that the resolutions were set to pass، though shareholders are allowed to change their vote up to the start of the annual meeting.

Approval of the largest pay deal in U.S. corporate history could allay investor concerns about Musk's future at the company، while giving the electric carmaker ammunition in its fight to reverse a court decision to void the pay package.

A person familiar with the preliminary voting tally said a combination of big institutional investors and retail investor votes were responsible for the support.

The result will be announced at a meeting at Tesla's headquarters in Texas at 4:30 pm ET (2030 GMT) on Thursday.

Lengthy legal battle

Musk would still face a lengthy legal battle to convince the Delaware judge who said the Tesla board was "beholden" to him، while potentially fielding fresh lawsuits over the latest vote.

"Even if the shareholders do approve the old package، it is not clear that the Delaware court will allow that vote to be effective،" said Adam Badawi، a law professor at UC Berkeley.

Tesla shares were up 6.7% in premarket trading on Thursday after rising 3.9% a day before the shareholder meet.

Major proxy firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had urged shareholders to reject the pay package، and large investors including Norway's sovereign wealth fund and major U.S. pension funds had said they would vote against it.

Tesla shareholders also cast ballots on other proposals including the move of its legal headquarters from Delaware to Texas، as well as the re-election of two board members: Musk's brotherKimbal Muskand James Murdoch، son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.