Tesla (TSLA.US) appeals to Delaware's highest court as Musk vows to fight for his $56bn pay package.

Tesla (TSLA.US) has appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that canceled CEO Elon Musk's record $56bn pay package, arguing the decision harmed shareholders. The company's lawyers wrote in the appeal brief: "The Chancery Court's approval decision violated a fundamental principle of Delaware corporate law: when shareholders are empowered to act through free and informed votes, they have the final say over their own company." Last December, Judge Kathleen M. McGuinness for a second time rejected Musk's 2018 pay package, which was approved by shareholders. She said the Tesla board was "grateful" to Musk and that shareholder votes would not be effective in that case. She also ordered the company to pay $345m in legal fees to the plaintiffs. "The Chancery Court's unnecessary and unwelcome judicial 'protection' harms Tesla's shareholders in several ways," the company's lawyers claimed in a brief filed on Tuesday. "They were silenced on the pay issue because their votes were ignored." Musk's net worth has fallen $126bn this year to $307bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Tesla's shares have fallen 39.2 per cent since the start of the year. Musk remains the world's richest person.