Heavy Metal Drummer Cost Elon Musk $55.8 Billion

MSN ^ | 2-1 | Noor Al-Sibai

[dennisw]

Elon Musk will not be $55.8 billion richer anytime soon — and it wouldn't have happened without a ticked off metal band drummer.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Musk won't be granted all those additional billions from Tesla, per his strangely-negotiated pay package deal, thanks to one Richard Tornetta, a one-time thrash band drummer who also happens to be a shareholder convinced that the CEO should not be making so much money off his back.

Incredibly, as Al Jazeera reports, Tornetta only owned nine shares in Tesla when he sued in 2018, which are worth about $1,700 today. His lawyers, the outlet reported, will be compensated by Tesla — which if nothing else shows that when you go up against giants like Musk, sometimes you can at least get your legal bills paid.

A self-described "car guy," Tornetta used to work for a company that made audio parts for automobiles and currently works in marketing, per an archived version of his LinkedIn that the WSJ viewed that paints him as very much the type of person who would buy stock in Tesla. The more exciting side of his backstory, however, goes back to 2008, when as Newsweek reports, the shareholder's old band Dawn of Correction, whose name seems to be taken from a folk song that was a response to another folk song, titled "Eve of Destruction," released its one and only album, "Dead Hand Control." Not long after, the band's members left the project for greener pastures — which in this case included suing the world's richest man.

[Notthemomma]

I read everything linked in the story that doesn’t have a paywall (WSJ stuff, though I read the couple of paragraphs on that until the paywall intruded). There is not much in the reports or readable links, especially about what the judge based her ruling on (although that’s likely out there in the internet ether, if I cared enough to search for it).

It’s a simple pay-jealousy (”pay-inequity”) story. The ex-musician doesn’t think the CEO should be paid so very much more than other workers, at least not so very much more than middle and upper management types, and the ex-musician sought to enforce his belief and deny Musk the earned income bonus with the argument that the excessive pay agreement was not in the interest of shareholders and thus the board failed in its duty to protect the shareholders and thus the bonus should be canceled.

The ex-musician argued that the board didn’t study the issue well enough to recognize that Musk would very easily make his benchmark to earn the bonus, that Musk negotiated/wrote the agreement himself, and that Musk knew/was friends with board members (and has a brother on the board) and thus it was cronyism that got the deal passed and it wasn’t really a negotiated agreement with shareholders’ interests considered.

The judge seems to have canceled the pay contract, at least the bonus clause, and ordered them to negotiate a new contract, at least the bonus part. The board could just look at all the available data and arguments and agree anew to the old figure, or a lower one, or a higher one.

That’s what I got out of it, and no trudging, or mud slinging, needed.

[nwrep]

Sounds like all of Biden’s enemies will be defeated and Biden will emerge the winner.

[sauropod]

yep.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks. Simple and to the point. Appreciate that.

By the way, you can often find WSJ articles on other sites without paywalls. Copy and paste the full title into a search engine.

There’s also a good extension for Chrome-based browsers called “Bypass Paywalls.” It works well for me.

https://www.ghacks.net/2022/09/05/bypass-paywalls-clean-browser-extension-review/

[Disambiguator]

The famous “Yellow Snow Suite” from the album “Apostrophe’” that incidentally came out 50 years ago!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mpNn1nht0_8&pp=ygURemFwcGEgeWVsbG93IHNub3c%3D

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL...third comment down is “Frank Zappa is an acquired taste.” Commenter eprn1n2 took the words right out of my mouth.

Now did you remember that? Or look it up?

Trudging across the tundra
Mile after mile
Trudging across the tundra

[Mathews]

I liked the band. Sound a bit like a cross between Metallica and Sepultura, with Sam Kinison on vocals.

[Kazan]

You seem to ecstatic about this Denny.

Is that because Musk opposes the failed proxy war in Ukraine?

[Disambiguator]

I have that album, along with a few other Zappa selections. I’m familiar with the lyrics.

He did a foray into big-band jazz in the early 70s.

Check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXLGHYrVMmI

[lee martell]

That’s it! That is where I heard it, and that clever Zappa line just stuck with me, especially the way he said it, making ‘trudging’ sound like a hard struggle.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I’m a huge Zappa fan. I knew the line as soon as you pondered and posted. The Muffin Man is my favorite.

[dennisw]

No and no. And Vlad Putin is still a POS psycho killer.

[ridesthemiles]

PLAINTIFF owns 9 Tesla shares-——NINE

[Lurker]

That album is a must have. Some brilliant performances on it.

Jack Bruce playing bass on Apostrophe is absolutely epic.

L

[21twelve]

Trudging across the tundra
Mile after mile
Trudging across the tundra
Right down to the parish of St. Alphonzo

Frank Zappa - Nanook Rubs It

[Kazan]

You’ve got Putin confused with Zelensky and Biden.

[lee martell]

When I hear him sing about St. Alphonso, my memory jumps to hearing something about a Pancake Breakfast.
Maybe that’s part of the song too.
Frank loved to wander from one vivid image to another in his lyrics.

[dennisw]

Thanks!