Stock market today: Stock rally fizzles after more cool inflation data, Tesla rises ahead of Musk pay decision

Yahoo Finance’s Yasmin Khorram reports:

Tesla (TSLA) shareholders are answering a $56 billion question today at their annual meeting: Should Elon Musk’s record pay package be reinstated after a Delaware judge struck down a previous one?

“I’m voting yes unenthusiastically; I’m voting yes out of principle,” early investor Ibrahim AlHusseini told Yahoo Finance. Personal feelings aside, he said Tesla should honor the 2018 package that was tossed.

“That was the deal. Elon hit the milestones, so he should get his compensation.”

AlHusseini, founder of VC firm FullCycle, invested in the electric vehicle company in a Series C funding round in 2006. AlHusseini said he steadily sold off a majority of his position in the decade that followed.

“We rode the shares through a trillion-dollar valuation. A lot of wealth got created, and his compensation was set by the board,” AlHusseini added, though he thinks most of his peers will vote no this time.

But retail investors currently own around 40% of Tesla stock, and Musk claims they support his pay. Last weekend, the billionaire posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “roughly 90% of retail shareholders who have voted” have voted in favor of the package, adding that “public sentiment is unequivocally supportive.”

Tesla shares were up 4% on Thursday.

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