Tesla shareholders are slated to appear in court on Monday to contest a historic request for over $7 billion in legal fees to be borne by the company, describing it as “excessive.” This development marks the latest twist in the legal battle over Elon Musk’s $56 billion compensation package. The request for the record-setting fee was put forth by investor Richard Tornetta, backed by three law firms, including Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann.
“The requested legal fees appear exceedingly disproportionate and unreasonable,” wrote Nathan Chiu, a Tesla shareholder from New Jersey, in a statement to Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick in March, as per court filings. Chiu, along with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and over 8,000 other Tesla shareholders, has inundated the Delaware Chancery Court with approximately 1,500 objections regarding the fee request.
Tornetta’s attorneys assert that this constitutes the largest judgment ever awarded by an American court, excluding punitive damages. They contend that their fee request, equal to 11% of the judgment, is conservative by Delaware legal standards and have requested payment in the form of 29 million Tesla shares.
