Foreign Property News | Posted by Zarni Kyaw
In a recent development at Tesla Inc. TSLA, CEO Elon Musk is reported to have discussed purchasing a house from a Tesla director, raising concerns about the company’s governance.
Joe Gebbia, the Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab director who exited a board committee that made key decisions about the car maker's future, told Reuters that CEO Elon Musk had discussed purchasing a house from his start-up and that he was concerned their friendship could be seized on to attack the committee's independence.
Gebbia, whose start-up Samara makes tiny prefabricated houses, was one of two directors that Tesla's eight-member board deemed independent enough to serve on a "special committee" that deliberated on the company reincorporating from Delaware to Texas.
The board formed the special committee after Musk called in January for Tesla to move its corporate domicile out of Delaware, where a court shot down his $56 billion pay package.
The special committee was initially comprised of Gebbia, an Airbnb (ABNB.O), opens new tab co-founder, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, a former Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O), opens new tab human resources chief, according to a regulatory filing.
Gebbia stepped down from the committee in March after its mandate was expanded from deciding on the redomestication to also considering what to do about Musk's pay package, the filing states. His exit left behind a special committee of one, an unusual corporate governance setup that has been criticized by some of Tesla's shareholders.
Gebbia left the special committee "out of an abundance of caution", citing his personal relationship with Musk and a "potential business transaction" involving Samara that was "currently on hold", according to the filing.
Ref: Exclusive: Tesla director Gebbia says he discussed selling house to Musk (reuters)
