A Tesla lawyer wept during a deposition because he admired Elon Musk so much, judge says

Tesla CEO Elon Musk.Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Tesla’s former general counsel cried during his deposition on Elon Musk’s compensation package.
Delaware judge Kathelaeen McCormick said Todd Maron’s “admiration for Musk moved him to tears.”
Maron joined Tesla in 2013 and left the company in 2019.

You might be a fan of Elon Musk, but would you cry for him during a deposition?

That’s what former Tesla general counsel Todd Maron did, according to court documents out of Delaware.

In a written opinion on Tuesday, Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick criticized the way Tesla’s committee and its working group decided to award Musk his $55 billion compensation package. This process that led to the package’s approval was “deeply flawed,” per McCormick’s opinion.

“The working group included management members who were beholden to Musk, such as General Counsel Todd Maron who was Musk’s former divorce attorney and whose admiration for Musk moved him to tears during his deposition,” McCormick wrote in her decision.

“In fact, Maron was a primary gobetween Musk and the committee, and it is unclear on whose side Maron viewed himself. Yet many of the documents cited by the defendants as proof of a fair process were drafted by Maron,” she added.

Maron joined Tesla in September 2013 and left the company in January 2019.

McCormick this week voided Musk’s $55 billion compensation package at Tesla. Musk, who isn’t paid a salary as Tesla’s CEO, was promised a series of stock grants if he met Tesla’s financial growth targets.

McCormick’s ruling appears to have infuriated Musk, who said on Thursday that he’s done with Delaware, and will call a shareholder vote to transfer Tesla’s state of incorporation to Texas.

Maron and representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.