Musk is already singing victory: 'Tesla shareholders' OK to my $56 billion salary'

Tesla shareholders are voting in favour of the multi-billion dollar pay package for CEO Elon Musk by "wide margins", Musk himself wrote on X before the vote was concluded. "Both Tesla shareholder resolutions are passing by wide margins!" wrote Musk referring to the resolutions to approve his $56 billion pay package and a plan to move Tesla's headquarters from Delaware to Texas. Official results of the vote have not yet been released andthe annual Tesla shareholder meeting will be held this afternoon, US time.

Shareholder approval of the largest remuneration in the history of a US-listed company could assuage investor concerns about Musk's future within the company (he aims to increase his stake from 13% to 20% to secure more control), while giving the electric carmaker a solid argument in the battle to overturn the court's decision to annul the remuneration package.

Musk will still face a long legal battle to convince the Delaware judge who declared that Tesla's board of directors was 'dependent' on him.

According to early rumours, a combination of large institutional investors and small shareholder votes ensured that the pro-Musk proposal won a majority, despite the fact that proxy advisors Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services had urged shareholders to reject the remuneration package, and other large investors, including the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, had said they would vote against it.

As of midday Wednesday, some of Tesla's biggest investors, including Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street, had not yet expressed their stance. Here is a summary of the position of other institutional investors: