Accused of being overpaid, Tesla's board of directors returned $735 million in stock and cash awards.

CTOnews.com, July 18, a court document shows that Tesla's board of directors will return 735 million US dollars (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 5.27 billion yuan) to the company to solve the serious high salary problem accused by shareholders. This is one of the largest settlements of its kind.

It is reported that the lawsuit accuses board members of providing huge salaries to themselves through improper means, including Tesla co-founder Musk, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and so on.

According to a document filed by Delaware Chancery Court on July 14, Tesla's directors denied any wrongdoing alleged by investors, but said they agreed to resolve the case to eliminate the uncertainty, risks, burdens and costs that may arise from further litigation.

Tuyuan Pexels's lawsuit was filed in 2020 by the pension fund, which questioned the stock options granted to Tesla directors since June 2017.

It is worth mentioning that the settlement will not affect Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, which is being challenged by shareholders in another lawsuit, which was tried last year, and the decision in the Musk case is expected to be announced soon.

Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment. According to court documents, the directors believed that they acted out of goodwill and in the best interests of Tesla shareholders, but they agreed to settle in order to eliminate the risk of legal action against themselves and the company.

The directors are accused of being unfair and overpaid when granting themselves about 1100 million shares between 2017 and 2020, which are said to be far beyond the regulatory scope of corporate boards.

As part of the settlement, the directors also agreed not to receive any remuneration in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and the board of directors will change the way remuneration is determined.