Musk testifies in lawsuit over Tesla compensation package

By RANDALL CHASE
AP Business Writer

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is defending himself in a shareholder lawsuit challenging a compensation package he was awarded by the company’s board of directors that is potentially worth more than $55 billion. Musk appeared in a Delaware courtroom Wednesday. He denied that he dictated terms of the 2018 compensation package or attended any board or committee meetings at which the plan was discussed. Musk said instead that he was entirely focused on the execution of the company. An attorney for the shareholder plaintiff spent much of his early cross-examination trying to draw Musk into admitting that he controls Tesla to such an extent that he can sway the board to do his bidding.