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Just in the week that CEO Elon Musk laid off some 14,000 Tesla employees, the automaker's board is asking shareholders to reinstate the court-deleted super bonus for the big boss.

The gist: Tesla's board of directors is asking shareholders to reinstate the mega bonus for top executive Elon Musk at the upcoming general meeting in mid-June.

What it's about: Tesla awarded CEO Musk a long-term bonus in 2018 in the form of stock options that he would receive when the automaker met certain - very ambitious - financial targets. Because the automaker succeeded each time, Musk acquired an astronomical compensation package worth a sloppy $56 billion. Small-time investor Richard Tornetta thought that was a bit excessive and was vindicated by the courts in January: the bonus was scrapped.

The latest development: Robyn Denholm, Tesla's chairwoman, points out that Musk has been performing his role as CEO unpaid for six years, calling it "fundamentally unfair." Of course, the South African multimillionaire is still a major shareholder in Tesla. Denholm is therefore going to put the promised 2018 remuneration package back to the general meeting for a vote.

"Big risks, big rewards"

Literally: "Our company and our leaders have always had big dreams, and it is fundamental to Tesla's entrepreneurial spirit to take big risks for the chance of big rewards. This has led to the incredible innovation and progress - and economic gains - we have achieved at Tesla," Denholm wrote in her letter to shareholders.

"In 2018, we asked for incredible growth and performance. Elon has succeeded. Tesla shareholders have benefited from unprecedented growth under his leadership. And - most importantly for Tesla's future - the 2018 CEO pay package provided further incentives for the benefit of Tesla shareholders by requiring Elon to hold the shares he receives when he exercises his options for five years. That means he will remain driven to innovate and drive growth at Tesla because the value of his shares will depend on it!"

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