Judge clears way for Musk appeal to try to restore $56 billion Tesla pay

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – A Delaware judge cleared the way on Friday for Elon Musk and Tesla (NASDAQ:) to begin legal appeals to try to reinstate the chief executive’s record-breaking $56 billion pay package from the electric carmaker.

The order by Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick (NYSE:) of the Court of Chancery opens the 30-day window for an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Musk and the board that approved the 2018 pay package can appeal McCormick’s ruling in January that they had breached their fiduciary duty to investors by approving a compensation plan she described as “unfathomable” in its size.

On Dec. 2, she declined to reconsider that ruling despite a June vote by Tesla shareholders in favor of the package.

Tesla will also be able to appeal McCormick’s order directing the company to pay $345 million to the attorneys who represented Richard Tornetta, the shareholder who sued in 2018 to rescind the pay package.

The Delaware Supreme Court can take around a year to issue a ruling.