Tesla must climb ‘Mount Everest’ to win shareholder vote; Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty rise up rich list – business live
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Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Tesla faces a climb up “Mount Everest” as it tries to persuade shareholders to appprove a relocation to Texas and sign off – again – a $56bn pay deal for Elon Musk, according to the electric car company’s chair.
RobynDenholm, chair of Tesla’s board, is battling to win over shareholders ahead of an annual meeting next month.
Denholm told the Financial Times:
“We’re very early days of the campaign and we will be meeting with [shareholders] all the way through to the day of the vote.
The vote’s pretty important for us as a company, but I also think it’s important for corporate America as well.”
The controversial pay deal has already been backed once by shareholders, back in 2018, but was vetoed by a Delaware judge in January.
But Tesla is refusing to let the matter lie, and has decided to put it to investors again – and also approve a decision to move the company’s state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
The pay vote is a simple majority, but to shift the incorporation requires a majority of all shares outstanding.
That’s why Denholm sees a struggle; she says:
“It’s like Mount Everest. It’s a huge hill to climb because getting 50 per cent of the shareholders to vote, let alone what they vote for, is quite tough.”
The package grants stock option awards allowing Musk to buy Tesla stock at heavily discounted prices as escalating financial and operational goals are met. He must hold the acquired stock for five years.
Denholm insists that every shareholder that she’s spoken to felt the pay deal worked, and “drove a lot of shareholder value.”
NEWS: Tesla has launched a new website in connection with its 2024 annual shareholder meeting
It in part goes over how much value @elonmusk has created at Tesla, and got into depth about the proxy proposals.
This year has been tougher for Tesla, though. Shares are down 30% so far this year, it reported a 48% drop in profits in the last quarter, and Musk has fired almost all of Tesla’s electric-vehicle charging division.
The agenda
9am BST: Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann speech on ‘cost of capital: measurement and implications for business investment”
10am BST: Eurozone inflation report for April
3pm BST: Conference Board leading economic index on the US economy
The Hinduja family, led by GopiHinduja, retain their place at the top of the rich list this year.
The Hinduja’s wealth rose by almost £2.2bn last year to £37.196bn, from a property-to-industrial conglomerate, which also covers energy and finance, from London.
They recently transformed the Old War Office building in Whitehall into a Raffles hotel with 120 rooms, 11 restaurants and 85 serviced flats.
In second place, with £29.246bn, is Sir Leonard Blavatnik. His investment group Access Industries holds a majority stake in Warner Music. Its value has jumped this year, lifting Blavatnik from third place a year ago.
That bronze medal slot is now occupied by David and Simon Reuben and family, with £24.977bn. The Reubens are property tycoons, having first made a fortune in metals trading – purchasing Russian aluminium before buying up large tracts of London’s landmark buildings.
Tesla chair RobynDenholm was also asked what Musk might do if he loses the upcoming vote on his $56bn pay deal.
Denholm says:
“There is always a risk, but he’s not holding a gun to anybody’s head . . . He hasn’t said one way or another quite frankly. And do I believe he’s committed to Tesla? Absolutely.”
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have climbed up the list of the UK’s richest people, after their combined fortune rose by over £120m last year.
That places them in 245th place on the List, up from 275th last year.
Once again, Murty’s stake in Indian tech company Infosys provided the bulk of their fortune – over the last year, it has risen by £108.8m to nearly £590m.
The Sunday Times helpfully runs through the couple’s assets:
The couple’s main London home is a five-bedroom Kensington mews house worth an estimated £7 million. Soon after the row over Murty’s tax status erupted, the family moved out of Downing Street and back into their west London home.
They also own a flat on Old Brompton Road in Kensington, usually used for hosting friends and family, and a Georgian manor house in the North Yorkshire village of Kirby Sigston, bought to serve as a constituency home in 2015 for £1.5 million. Estate agents estimate that additions including a gym, yoga studio, hot tub, tennis court and 12m x 5m indoor swimming pool have pushed the property’s value beyond £2 million. Then there is their £5.5 million penthouse in Santa Monica, California, bought from its developer in 2014.
🔺 REVEALED: The Sunday Times Rich List 2024 It features the King, the prime minister, inventors and industrialists, as well as some exciting new names, but what does the record fall in the number of billionaires mean for Britain? ⬇️
— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) May 17, 2024
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Tesla faces a climb up “Mount Everest” as it tries to persuade shareholders to appprove a relocation to Texas and sign off – again – a $56bn pay deal for Elon Musk, according to the electric car company’s chair.
RobynDenholm, chair of Tesla’s board, is battling to win over shareholders ahead of an annual meeting next month.
Denholm told the Financial Times:
“We’re very early days of the campaign and we will be meeting with [shareholders] all the way through to the day of the vote.
The vote’s pretty important for us as a company, but I also think it’s important for corporate America as well.”
The controversial pay deal has already been backed once by shareholders, back in 2018, but was vetoed by a Delaware judge in January.
But Tesla is refusing to let the matter lie, and has decided to put it to investors again – and also approve a decision to move the company’s state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
The pay vote is a simple majority, but to shift the incorporation requires a majority of all shares outstanding.
That’s why Denholm sees a struggle; she says:
“It’s like Mount Everest. It’s a huge hill to climb because getting 50 per cent of the shareholders to vote, let alone what they vote for, is quite tough.”
The package grants stock option awards allowing Musk to buy Tesla stock at heavily discounted prices as escalating financial and operational goals are met. He must hold the acquired stock for five years.
Denholm insists that every shareholder that she’s spoken to felt the pay deal worked, and “drove a lot of shareholder value.”
NEWS: Tesla has launched a new website in connection with its 2024 annual shareholder meeting
It in part goes over how much value @elonmusk has created at Tesla, and got into depth about the proxy proposals.
This year has been tougher for Tesla, though. Shares are down 30% so far this year, it reported a 48% drop in profits in the last quarter, and Musk has fired almost all of Tesla’s electric-vehicle charging division.
The agenda
9am BST: Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann speech on ‘cost of capital: measurement and implications for business investment”
10am BST: Eurozone inflation report for April
3pm BST: Conference Board leading economic index on the US economy