Billionaire Elon Musk has won his appeal, as the Delaware Supreme Court ruled on December 19 to reinstate his $56 billion pay package at electric vehicle maker Tesla from 2018, nearly two years after a lower court had invalidated the agreement.

The Delaware Supreme Court’s ruling overturns the 2024 decision that had canceled the pay package, a move that Musk had strongly criticized at the time as “unfair,” arguing that he was not compensated for six years of work and effort.

In a post on Twitter, Musk wrote that he had been “vindicated.” The package remains the largest of its kind until Tesla shareholders approved a new, potentially even larger pay plan in November 2025.

The Supreme Court’s decision means Musk can finally be properly compensated for his work since 2018, when he transformed Tesla from a struggling startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

If Tesla’s appeal had failed, the company might have had to consider an alternative stock-based compensation package they had promised Musk, with the stock price now significantly higher.

The 2018 pay agreement granted Musk the right to purchase approximately 304 million Tesla shares at a deep discount if certain performance milestones were met—a feat that Tesla achieved.

At the time, Tesla estimated the potential value of the plan at $56 billion, though the current value is around $155 billion due to the continued rise in Tesla’s share price. These options represent roughly 9% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.

Musk had never received any of the optioned shares, as shortly after shareholders approved the 2018 compensation, Richard Tornetta, an investor owning just nine Tesla shares, filed a lawsuit against the board.

In 2024, after a five-day trial, Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick concluded that Tesla directors had conflicts of interest and had withheld critical information from shareholders when voting on the plan. She ordered the 2018 plan to be invalidated.

Tesla’s board warned that Musk—the world’s richest man, who also leads aerospace company SpaceX and AI startup xAI—might leave the electric car maker if he did not receive his desired pay and increased voting rights.

In November 2025, Tesla shareholders approved a new compensation plan, potentially worth $878 billion if the company achieves targets related to self-driving cars, a robot taxi network, and humanoid robot sales.