HMM: Delaware judge rejects request to restore Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay.

A Delaware judge ruled on Monday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk still is not entitled to receive a $56 billion compensation package despite shareholders of the electric vehicle company voting to reinstate it.

The ruling by the judge, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Court of Chancery, follows her January decision that called the pay package excessive and rescinded it, surprising investors, and cast uncertainty over Musk’s future at the world’s most valuable carmaker.

Musk did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Tesla has said in court filings that the judge should recognize a subsequent June vote by its shareholders in favor of the pay package for Musk, the company’s driving force who is responsible for many of its advances, and reinstate his compensation.

McCormick also ordered Tesla to pay the attorneys who brought the case $345 million, well short of the $6 billion they initially requested.

Shareholders also flooded the court with thousands of letters arguing that the January ruling increased the possibility that Musk would leave Tesla or develop some products like artificial intelligence at ventures other than Tesla.

The point of the compensation package was to give Musk enough voting — enough control over the company — to do things exactly like those. So, yes, the shareholders are probably right to worry.

Delaware’s business-friendly reputation was built over decades, was a huge boon to the state’s finances, and may have been undone by a single judge.