Sidley Austin, a reputable law firm, is advising a special committee associated with Tesla Inc. on shareholder approval concerning a $56 million pay package devised for the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk. The report, developed with the support of over 40 lawyers from Sidley, is formulated in line with the guidance provided by Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, a practising lawyer and director at Tesla.
A proxy filing on Wednesday revealed that Kristin Seeger, a member of Sidley’s executive committee and co-leader of its global commercial litigation and disputes practice, and partner John Skakun III spearheaded this advisory task. The file also divulged information about the cancelled compensation package for Musk, which was approved by shareholders in 2018. The intricate narrative also includes a second vote at its June 13 annual meeting planned by the Austin, Texas-based automaker.
In response to Delaware Chancery Court’s nullification of Musk’s previous compensation package, Tesla is also considering a vote on whether to change the company’s state of incorporation to Texas from Delaware. This stems from Musk’s public criticism of the state of Delaware following the court’s decision.
Other legal professionals involved in the committee’s work further include A. Thompson Bayliss, a partner at Delaware’s Abrams & Bayliss, and Anthony ‘Tony’ Casey, a Professor at the University of Chicago Law School and a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
In addition, the board’s special committee evaluated multiple law firms to determine its outside counsel, ultimately choosing Sidley due to its independent status; it neither represented Musk nor engaged deeply with Tesla on previous assignments.
Sidley is simultaneously representing several former Twitter executives, including ex-legal and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, pertaining to a lawsuit against Musk over their termination following the billionaire’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform in 2022.
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