​Is Elon Musk Worth $55.8 Billion to Tesla?

Is Elon Musk Worth $55.8 Billion to Tesla?

埃隆·马斯克对特斯拉来说价值558亿美元吗？

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　　By Hai Do

　　03 February 2024

　　Tesla chief Elon Musk wants to move the company's incorporation, or registration, from the American state of Delaware to Texas. Musk said he will ask Tesla shareholders to vote on the move after a Delaware judge ruled against his 2018 pay deal valued at $55.8 billion.

　　"Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware," Musk posted on social media service X shortly after the ruling.

　　Tesla and many major companies, including Amazon, Google, Disney, and Walmart, keep their headquarters in other states. But they all register in the small eastern state of Delaware because of its tax laws and business courts.

　　The financial publication Forbes reports that 68 percent of the top American businesses are incorporated in Delaware. Companies that are registered in Delaware do not pay corporate income tax if they do not do business in the state. Even if they do business in the state, companies can also avoid paying corporate tax by setting up what is called a "shell" company. A shell company legally owns property but does not carry out any business.

　　Dan Coatsworth is an expert at AJ Bell, a British investment company. He told Reuters that Musk's plan is the kind of behavior from someone "who always looks for an alternative if he can't get what he wants."

　　Musk's idea, should he go through with the vote, is not without risk. Legal experts said investors might take legal action if he tried to move the state of incorporation to Texas. Legal action is even more likely if it was seen as a move to get his pay deal rather than to help Tesla.

　　Musk's pay package

　　In 2022, the research firm Equilar carried out a study for The Associated Press. The study said that the median pay deal for a chief executive officer, or CEO, of a company in the Standard & Poor 500, an index of top companies, was valued at $14.8 million.

　　It would take an average worker at one of those companies more than 185 years to earn what their chief executive gets in just 12 months.

　　Musk's pay package of $55.8 billion, set in 2018, was much larger than usual. So, a shareholder brought legal action. His lawyer argued that it was proposed by company directors with ties to Musk. And shareholders were given misleading and incomplete information.

　　In 2018, Tesla estimated the value of Musk's compensation package at $2.28 billion. But its value has grown as Tesla's stock price increased. Under the plan, Musk would receive stock options each time Tesla's market value rose by $50 billion. That means Musk would have the chance to buy nearly 304 million shares for $23.34 each.

　　Tesla stock is now trading at about $190 a share compared with $21 at the start of 2018. By comparison, in 2022 the median worker at Tesla made $34,084.

　　Last week, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick of Delaware ruled that the process to set Musk's pay package was "flawed" and the price "unfair." She ruled that Tesla's directors lacked independence from Musk and the big pay package was not needed for Tesla to keep Musk or meet its performance goals.

　　McCormick's ruling moved Musk out of the top spot on the Forbes list of wealthiest people. The publication removed $25 billion from his wealth putting him below French businessman Bernard Arnault.

　　How do companies decide on CEO pay?

　　To decide how much to pay their CEO, company directors often look at how much other companies are paying theirs. General Motors, for example, looks at Boeing, Ford, IBM, and other large companies to set its pay.

　　In 2022, General Motors gave its CEO, Mary Barra, a pay package valued at $29 million. And Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, another car company, received $22 million that year.

　　Although Tesla makes automobiles, investors often compare its stock with technology companies. Musk is often compared to Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Apple's Tim Cook.

　　In 2023, Cook's pay was valued at $63.2 million. A year earlier, Cook received about $99 million.

　　Musk's supporters argue that he is not like any other CEO and should not be paid like other CEOs. They said he has built Tesla into the most valuable automaker in the world. Last year, Tesla sold more electric vehicles than any other company. And the company's success has forced the rest of the auto industry to plan for electric vehicles.

　　Business law experts say any new pay package for Musk will likely be back in court again without independent directors or changes in the decision process for pay.

　　Before the ruling, however, Musk wrote on X that he wanted Tesla company directors to double his share to give him 25 percent voting control of the company. If not, Musk said he would develop artificial intelligence and robotic software outside of the company.

　　I'm Mario Ritter Jr. And I'm Faith Pirlo.

　　Hai Do adapted this report for VOA Learning English from The Associated Press, Reuters and other sources.

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　　作者：Hai Do

　　日期：2024年2月3日

　　特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克想将公司的注册地从美国特拉华州迁移到德克萨斯州。在特拉华州的一位法官对他2018年价值558亿美元的薪酬协议做出反对裁决后，马斯克表示他将要求特斯拉的股东对此举进行投票。

　　"永远不要在特拉华州注册你的公司，"马斯克在社交媒体服务X上发布了这条信息。

　　特斯拉和许多大公司，包括亚马逊、谷歌、迪士尼和沃尔玛，都将总部设在其他州。但是他们都选择在东部小州特拉华州注册，原因是其税法和商业法庭。

　　财经出版物福布斯报道，68%的美国顶级企业都在特拉华州注册。在特拉华州注册的公司如果不在该州做生意，就不需要支付公司所得税。即使在该州做生意，公司也可以通过设立所谓的"壳"公司来避免支付公司税。壳公司在法律上拥有财产，但不进行任何业务。

　　丹·科茨沃思是英国投资公司AJ Bell的专家。他告诉路透社，马斯克的计划是那种"如果得不到他想要的，就会寻找替代方案"的人的行为。

　　如果马斯克真的进行投票，他的想法并非没有风险。法律专家表示，如果他试图将注册地迁移到德克萨斯州，投资者可能会采取法律行动。如果这被视为是为了获取他的薪酬协议，而不是为了帮助特斯拉，那么法律行动的可能性就更大了。

　　马斯克的薪酬套餐

　　2022年，研究公司Equilar为美联社进行了一项研究。研究表明，标准普尔500指数公司的首席执行官（CEO）的平均薪酬协议价值为1480万美元。

　　在这些公司的一名普通员工需要超过185年的时间才能赚到他们的首席执行官在短短12个月内得到的收入。

　　马斯克在2018年设定的558亿美元的薪酬套餐比通常的要大得多。因此，一位股东提起了法律诉讼。他的律师辩称，这是由与马斯克有关系的公司董事提出的。并且股东们被给予了误导性和不完整的信息。

　　2018年，特斯拉估计马斯克的薪酬套餐的价值为22.8亿美元。但随着特斯拉股价的上涨，其价值也在增长。根据该计划，每次特斯拉的市值增加500亿美元，马斯克就会获得股票期权。这意味着马斯克将有机会以每股23.34美元的价格购买近304百万股。

　　现在，特斯拉的股票交易价格约为每股190美元，而在2018年初，这个价格是21美元。相比之下，2022年特斯拉的中位数员工收入为34,084美元。

　　上周，特拉华州的Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick法官裁定，设定马斯克薪酬套餐的过程是"有瑕疵的"，价格"不公平"。她裁定，特斯拉的董事们缺乏对马斯克的独立性，而且大额薪酬套餐并不是特斯拉保留马斯克或达到其绩效目标所必需的。

　　McCormick的裁决使马斯克在福布斯最富有人物榜单上的排名下降。该出版物从他的财富中扣除了250亿美元，使他的排名低于法国商人伯纳德·阿诺。

　　公司如何决定CEO的薪酬？

　　在决定支付CEO多少薪酬时，公司董事们通常会看其他公司支付他们的CEO多少薪酬。例如，通用汽车会参考波音、福特、IBM和其他大公司来设定其薪酬。

　　2022年，通用汽车给其首席执行官玛丽·巴拉提供了价值2900万美元的薪酬套餐。而福特汽车公司的首席执行官吉姆·法利那年收到了2200万美元。

　　尽管特斯拉生产汽车，但投资者经常将其股票与科技公司进行比较。马斯克经常被拿来与Meta的马克·扎克伯格和苹果的蒂姆·库克进行比较。

　　2023年，库克的薪酬价值为6320万美元。在一年前，库克收到了约9900万美元。

　　马斯克的支持者们认为，他并不像其他任何CEO，也不应该像其他CEO那样得到支付。他们说，他已经把特斯拉建设成了世界上最有价值的汽车制造商。去年，特斯拉卖出的电动汽车比任何其他公司都多。而且，该公司的成功已经迫使其他汽车行业为电动汽车做出计划。

　　商业法律专家表示，如果没有独立董事或改变薪酬决策过程，马斯克的任何新薪酬套餐可能会再次出现在法庭上。

　　然而，在裁决之前，马斯克在X上写道，他希望特斯拉公司的董事们将他的股份翻倍，给他25%的公司投票控制权。如果不是，马斯克说他将在公司外部开发人工智能和机器人软件。

　　我是马里奥·里特尔·小。我是费思·皮尔洛。

　　Hai Do从美联社、路透社和其他来源为VOA学习英语改编了这篇报道。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　alternative –n. 另一种可能的选择，与当前考虑的选择不同

　　median –n. 一组数字中的中间值

　　stock option –n. 一种合同，赋予所有者以设定价格购买股票的权利

　　flawed –adj. 包含错误或不应存在的东西