Tesla’s latest way to get shareholders to vote: factory tour with Elon and Franz

Tesla shareholders have been voting on several new proposals put forward by the board over the last few weeks and heading to the annual shareholder meeting on June 13.

The two main proposals that the board is trying to get through are a new vote on Musk’s 2018 CEO compensation package and moving Tesla’s state of incorporation to Texas.

The two are closely related as Tesla’s board and Musk have blamed the fact that they lost a lawsuit invalidating the 2018 compensation package on the fact that the lawsuit happened in Delware, where Tesla is incorporated.

Tesla incorporated in Delaware, like many other American companies, because the states has laws extremely favorable to corporations. However, Musk believes, without any evidence, that the judge’s decision was politically motivated and believes that Tesla would have better luck in Texas.

And Tesla will need better luck because the new shareholder’s vote on the compensation package doesn’t automatically invalidate the judge’s decision to rescind the package and more legal challenges are expected. Tesla’s own lawyers admit it’s basically a poll.

Regardless, Tesla has been pushing hard for shareholders to revote in favor the package and the move to Texas.

As we previously reported, the company’s board launched a website and even started buying ads to push the vote in that direction.

The shareholder battle is starting to heat up. We recently reported on a major pension fund that has announced that it will vote against it and encouraged other shareholders to do the same.

Yesterday, we reported Glass Lewis going against the board’s recommendation.

Now, Tesla has come up with another way to encourage shareholders to vote. The company is raffling a Gigafactory Texas tour with CEO Elon Musk and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen:

Win a tour of the Tesla Gigafactory with Elon Musk and Franz von Holzhausen in Austin, Texas! Tour the Cybertruck and Model Y manufacturing lines with Elon Musk and other Tesla executives with a private group of stockholders on June 12th, the day before the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting. You will also have a  reserved seat at the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting on June 13th.

However, unlike previous efforts, like the ads that Tesla bought, this time, it’s not to vote any specific way, but shareholders have to prove that they voted their shares:

You should only submit proof that you voted, not how you voted. You do not need to vote for or against any proposals to be eligible for entry. You are eligible to vote and to enter the drawing, only if you were a stockholder of record or a beneficial owner at the close of business on April 15, 2024.

But it would make for a pretty awkward factory tour if someone who voted against wins.

Electrek’s Take

This is for the Texas vote. Tesla needs a very high turnout to get 50% of all outstanding shares.

If they don’t win that vote, the new compensation package vote will be even more useless. It’s already basically a poll and the inevitable legal challenges will be even tougher if they can’t move to Texas, which itself might be legally challenged.

In short, Tesla’s governance issues have led to a giant legal mess for the company and its shareholders.

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