Elon Musk thought his work at Tesla deserved a whopping $55 billion, making him one of the highest-paid executives in the car industry. But last year, courts stopped him from getting this huge amount. Since then, Musk has been trying hard to get it approved. One way he’s doing this is by using Tesla’s advertising money to support it.
According to Electrek, Tesla is using money meant for promoting its cars to buy ads that urge shareholders to vote for Musk’s $55 billion pay. These ads have been seen on platforms like X, which Musk also owns. They promote moving Tesla’s headquarters to Texas and approving the $55 billion payment. Electrek reports:
“In a new filing with the SEC, Tesla confirmed that it is now buying ad spaces to encourage shareholders to vote for these items.
Tesla has to file with the SEC all the ‘communications’ it has with shareholders regarding the vote and this time, the communications are listed as ‘sponsored’ on Google – meaning that Tesla bought Google ads for it.
The automaker even spent money on Elon Musk’s pockets by buying ads on X with the post listed as ‘promoted’.”
Shareholders have until June to cast their votes. The ads encourage them to vote for moving Tesla’s headquarters from Delaware to Texas, which Musk promised after Delaware judges blocked his $55 billion pay. The ads also ask shareholders to vote for having the final say on any payment Musk receives.
Spending money on such ads seems strange, especially when Tesla’s profits are falling, and the company is cutting many jobs. Musk plans to cut about 10% of Tesla’s workforce, including employees from its Supercharger team, workers at its California base, and even interns.
