Elon Musk has proposed plans to relocate his Tesla legal base to Texas amid a fallout with Delaware after the state threw out his $56billion pay package.
The owner of X (formerly Twitter), held a poll asking whether Tesla should change the company’s state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
The results showed that based on 1million votes cast, 87 per cent voted in favour of moving.
He wrote: "The public vote is unequivocally in favour of Texas! Tesla will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to transfer state of incorporation to Texas."
Elon Musk has proposed plans to relocate his Tesla legal base to Texas
Reuters
It comes after a Delaware judge ruled that a 2018 share-based package, described as "an unfathomable sum", awarded to Musk was unfair to shareholders - and was subsequently struck down.
Following the ruling, the Tesla chief executive wrote on social media: "Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.
"I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters".
Musk previously moved Tesla’s corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas, in 2021.
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The move came after he condemned California’s regulations and taxes and also argued with health officials during the pandemic over reopening a factory in Fremont.
It remains unclear whether the Tesla board supported his latest declaration.
Brian Quinn, a professor at Boston College law school, said moving to Texas "will require the board to initiate the reincorporation."
"So, if he hasn’t he should drop them a line because it’s supposed to be a board call, not the result of a poll on X," he told the Guardian.
The owner of social media platform X, held a poll asking whether Tesla should change the company’s state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas
GETTYQuinn added that despite moving state, the Delaware ruling will still be upheld.
"It won’t help that effort to have their very first customer be Elon Musk who expects them to kowtow to managers’ interests. He’s putting Texas in a bit of a bind," he said.
Musk is worth $202bn, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index.