Elon Musk may ‘step back’ if shareholders reject $56bn pay package, Tesla chair warns

‘What Elon most certainly does not have is unlimited time. Nor does he face any shortage of ideas and other places he can make an incredible difference in the world,’ the Tesla chair, Robyn Denholm wrote. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The chair of Tesla has raised the prospect of Elon Musk stepping back from the electric carmaker if shareholders do not back the chief executive’s $56bn (£44bn) pay package, saying there are “other places” the entrepreneur could spend his time.

Robyn Denholm added in a letter to investors that next week’s vote on the biggest remuneration deal in US corporate history was “obviously not about the money” because Musk would remain one of the richest people on the planet regardless of the outcome.