Skip to main content
Tesla car charging

The Takedown of Elon Musk’s $56 Billion Pay Package

Lead plaintiff attorney David Tejtel speaks on a failure of corporate governance and its legal remedy.

When & Where

Calendar Icon

Date & Time

Geo-marker Icon

Location

Cornell ILR School
105 Ives Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Overview

When Elon Musk requested and was granted a pay package from Tesla that would result in a massive and unprecedented transfer of wealth from shareholders to the CEO, a small shareholder decided to take him to court. David Tejtel argued the case that asked whether Tesla’s board was exercising its power for shareholders or disproportionately for Musk’s interests as Tesla’s self-styled “Technoking.”

Tejtel and ILR's Brian Dunn (ILR), who served as an expert on executive compensation for the plaintiffs, will speak about the Musk-Tesla case. They are joined by Cornell faculty experts Charles Whitehead (Law School) and Yaniv Grinstein (SC Johnson College of Business), to draw out implications for the delicate relationships among corporate governance, high performing executives, and the boards that oversee them. Diane Burton (ILR School) will serve as host and moderator.

David Tejtel

  • Principal, Friedman Oster & Tejtel PLLC

Brian Dunn

  • Director of Professional Programs, Institute for Compensation Studies Cornell ILR School

Charles K. Whitehead

  • Myron C. Taylor Alumni Professor of Business Law at Cornell Law School

Yaniv Grinstein

  • Adjunct Professor of Finance, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, Professor of Finance, Arison School of Business, Reichman University

M. Diane Burton

  • Joseph R. Rich ’80 Professor, Human Resource Studies and Academic Director, Institute for Compensation Studies, Cornell ILR School
AGENDA

5:00 PM

Welcome
Diane Burton, Academic Director, Institute for Compensation Studies and Joseph R. Rich ’80 Professor, Human Resource Studies

5:05 PM

Introduction
Brian Dunn, Director of Professional Programs, Institute for Compensation Studies and Lecturer, ILR School

5:20 PM

Litigating the Tesla Case
David Tejtel, Partner, Friedman, Oster, & Tejtel

5:45 PM

Panel Discussion and Q&A
Charles Whitehead, Myron C. Taylor Alumni Professor of Business Law

Yaniv Grinstein, Professor of Finance, Arison School of Business, Reichman University, Adjunct Professor of Finance, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

6:30 PM

Reception