NEW YORK, June 13, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Tesla CEO Elon Musk said late Wednesday that the electric vehicle company's shareholders were voting to approve his multibillion-dollar pay package by "wide margins" in a post on his social media platform X ahead of the vote's conclusion.

"Both Tesla shareholder resolutions are currently passing by wide margins!" Musk wrote, referring to resolutions to approve his pay package worth as much as $56 billion and a plan to shift Tesla's place of incorporation from Delaware to Texas.

Official vote results have not yet been released and Tesla's annual shareholder meeting is slated for Thursday afternoon.

Tesla has campaigned to convince shareholders to approve Musk's giant compensation package.

The company said on an annual meeting website that the "future value we are poised to deliver for you is at risk," adding: "We need your vote NOW to protect Tesla and your investment."

Tesla also launched a sweepstakes of sorts where 15 investors who vote would be randomly picked for a tour of Tesla's plant in Austin, Texas personally led by Musk and vehicle designer Franz von Holzhausen.

Shareholders overwhelmingly backed the Musk compensation plan in March 2018, but it was struck down by a Delaware judge in January.

This year's vote was expected to be closer than the 2018 ballot after influential advisory firms Investor Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis came out against the windfall, with ISS dismissing the proposal as "excessive."

In April, Tesla revived the package, with chair Robyn Denholm imploring investors to "fix this issue" after the Delaware ruling.

He said in a letter to shareholders that the firm had "created more than $735 billion in value" in the previous six years.