Elon Musk risks losing world’s richest title after pay package voided

Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay package at Tesla Inc. was struck down by a Delaware judge after a shareholder challenged it as excessive, a ruling that would take a giant bite out of Musk’s wealth and put the fate of his companies in question.

That is if the ruling survives a likely appeal.

The decision Tuesday, which amounts to his first major loss in court, means that more than five years after the electric carmaker’s co-founder was granted the largest executive compensation plan in history, Tesla’s board will have to start over and come up with a new proposal. Musk never attempted to exercise his options since they’d been challenged in Delaware Chancery Court.