Musk takes the stand in $56B Tesla pay trial

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STORY: Elon Musk arrived at the Delaware Court of Chancery on Wednesday in a black Tesla to rebuff allegations that he didn't deserve his $56 billion pay package from the carmaker.

Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta sued Musk and the board in 2018, alleging that Musk was the recipient of overly-generous compensation, which helped make him a billionaire many times over, that - the suit says - was based on easy performance targets, and did not even require him to work at Tesla full-time.

On the stand, Musk described how Tesla was struggling to survive in 2017 when the package was developed. He said he would not accept a plan that needed him to punch a clock or commit certain hours to Tesla. He told the court, "I pretty much work all the time. I don’t know what a punch clock would achieve."

Musk has a history of combative testimony and often appears disdainful of lawyers with probing questions. At one point during his Wednesday testimony, Musk told the plaintiff’s lawyer, "your question is a complex question that is commonly used to mislead people."

The five-day trial before Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick comes as Musk is struggling to oversee a chaotic overhaul of Twitter, which he was forced to buy for $44 billion in a separate legal battle before the same judge after trying to back out of that deal.