Tesla shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed a massive pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could reach $1 trillion. The pay package — crafted to ensure Musk’s continued service to Tesla as the company pursues breakthrough technology on artificial intelligence and robotics — won more than 75 percent support from shareholders, a Tesla official said at the company’s annual meeting.”I’d like to just give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the shareholder votes,” a euphoric Musk told the gathering. “I super-appreciate it.”Cheers of “Elon” broke out after the vote result was announced at the gathering, which was held at the company’s factory in Austin.Musk has emerged as a lightning rod figure, in part due to his embrace of right-wing politicians including President Donald Trump. But Thursday’s vote marked the latest demonstration of the entrepreneurial billionaire’s resonance with investors.The package aims to ensure Musk stays at Tesla for at least seven-and-a-half years. It would lift Musk’s holding in Tesla from about 12 percent when the package was introduced in September to potentially more than 25 percent.Musk has described Tesla’s potential growth as nearly boundless, saying in July that it “will be the most valuable company in the world by far” if it delivers on envisioned advances on autonomous driving and AI.But Musk himself has hinted he could leave Tesla or take a back seat if his ownership share is not raised enough to give him the influence over its future that he desires.In urging shareholders to back the proposal, Tesla Chair Robin Denholm argued keeping Musk was essential to Tesla’s future, warning the company’s stock could dive if he exited.The board has shrugged off criticism that the billionaire’s embrace of contentious political figures has weighed on sales.- Base of shareholder support -Tesla investors have been reliable Musk supporters in past votes over Musk’s pay packages, including a 2018 deal for about $55.8 billion that has repeatedly been blocked by a Delaware court in response to shareholder litigation.Following the latest Delaware ruling, Denholm and the rest of Tesla’s board went back to the drawing board, first approving in August an “interim” compensation award worth about $29 billion for Musk and then unveiling the larger plan in September.Once again on Thursday, Tesla shareholders signed off on stratospheric pay for Musk and also handed the company victories on other key votes, including the reelection of board members.But Tesla Takedown, an activist group, blasted the vote result, noting the company’s drop in auto sales in recent quarters.”Elon Musk just got one trillion dollars for failure,” said the group, which rallied against the plan Wednesday in downtown Austin.”Sales are down, safety risks are up and his politics are driving customers away. This isn’t leadership — it’s the world’s most expensive participation trophy.”On the other side, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the sweeping vote in favor of Musk cements his position as “the AI Revolution takes hold giving us greater confidence in the Tesla story moving forward.”Musk, witha net worth of more than $500 billion, is already the world’s richest person, according to Forbes’s real-time list of billionaires.He must hit 12 milestones related to market capitalization to receive the full pay package. The first tranche would be available when Tesla reaches $2 trillion in market value, up from its current $1.5 trillion.The plan also involves a series of operating profit and product goals, such as the delivery of 20 million Tesla vehicles.The pay proposal was panned by Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). An ISS analysis last month criticized the rationale for the potential windfall, noting that Musk’s financial interests are already closely tied to Tesla’s fate.As structured, the separation of the overall package into tranches of “unprecedented” value “could undermine the necessity for all goals to be realized,” said ISS, which also flagged the lack of explicit requirements that the busy Musk keep focused on Tesla.

Former NBA player Damon Jones, once close to LeBron James having worked alongside him at the Los Angeles Lakers, pleaded not guilty Thursday in two separate cases involving illegal gambling.In the first case, he is accused with several others of participating in a rigged betting scheme based on sharing confidential information from the locker room.He allegedly advised members of the network to bet on the Milwaukee Bucks against the Lakers, knowing that LeBron was injured and would not play.Hours later, James announced his withdrawal, and the Lakers were defeated.The second case involves a national network of Mafia-linked rigged poker games involving around 30 people and the use of highly sophisticated cheating equipment including X-ray tables.Jones allegedly used his notoriety to lure victims into the rigged games, before receiving a share of the profits. Coach Chauncey Billups, who won the NBA championships in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons, is charged in the illegal poker case.Accompanied by his lawyer, Damon Jones — who is out on a $200,000 bond — appeared before the two judges handling the cases and plead not guilty to both.The undrafted 49-year-old former player joined the NBA for a modest career across 11 different teams, notably the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008, where he played alongside LeBron.He later became an assistant coach, working again for the Cavaliers from 2016 to 2018 during LeBron’s second stint in Ohio. Jones served as James’s personal coach during the 2022–2023 season after the star joined the Lakers, without being employed by the team.

The newest installment to the blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto” video game franchise has been delayed again, this time until November 2026, its creators announced Wednesday.”We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve,” Rockstar Games said in a post on X.Release of the game had already been pushed from late 2025 to early 2026. Rockstar said it will now come out on November 19 of next year.Shares of Rockstar-parent Take-Two Interactive sank more than eight percent in after-hours trades.Word of the delay came the same day dozens of people protested outside Rockstar offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, accusing the multi-billion dollar studio of “blatant union busting” by firing 31 people.Rockstar, whose upcoming sixth edition of the cash-cow series is among the hottest releases of 2026, has accused the employees of “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies.”But the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which called the demonstration, rejected that claim, arguing that the sacked workers were all members of a private discussion channel linked to the union.Rockstar did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry.”GTA VI” is on course to become one of the biggest entertainment product launches of all time. As popular as it is notorious for its sexual and violent content, the franchise has allowed players to roleplay as criminals doing dirty deeds across sprawling cityscapes since its first entry in 1997. – Outlaw couple? -The newest game was originally due to be released later this year, with a trailer having shown that it would be set in Miami-like Vice City and would feature a playable female protagonist for the first time.Set to the Tom Petty song “Love Is A Long Road,” it opens with a female character named Lucia being released from prison in what appears to be a fictionalized version of Florida.Near the close of the one-minute-and-30-second clip, she tells her male partner in crime: “The only way we are going to get through this is by sticking together, being a team.”The pair go on to burst into a store with pistols drawn and bandanas covering the lower halves of their faces.Fans saw the scene as confirmation that rumors of a “Bonnie and Clyde” type crime couple are coming true.Along with its wild success, the GTA series has faced criticism over its violent content.Critics have from the beginning accused Grand Theft Auto of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behavior –- allegations rejected by New York-based Take-Two Interactive.GTA players sell drugs, fight, rob, go on car rampages and more. Gameplay options also included assaulting sex workers and going to strip clubs, raising the ire of activists.

US President Donald Trump announced deals Thursday with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower the prices of some popular weight-loss drugs, in exchange for relief from threatened tariffs.Both companies “have agreed to offer their most popular GLP-1 weight-loss drug,” Trump said at the White House, “at drastic discounts.””Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are committing to offer Zepbound and Wegovy at ‘Most Favored Nation’ rates for American patients,” Trump added, saying this would lower the costs of products for those eligible.During the announcement event in the Oval Office, a company representative standing behind Trump collapsed. He was later examined by Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who said he was okay.The new generation of appetite-suppressing drugs using GLP-1 agonists — which include the brands Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro — have exploded in popularity in recent times due to their ability to help people lose weight.But the sky-high prices of such drugs, which can cost more than $1,000 a month in the United States, have raised concerns.- ‘A triumph’ -The latest move is set to cut costs of starting oral doses of GLP-1s to as low as around $150 for certain groups of people once approved, a senior US official said.”It’s a triumph for American patients that will save lives and improve the health of millions and millions of Americans,” Trump told reporters. This price would apply to those on Medicare — which is for seniors — the safety net Medicaid, or via the direct-to-consumer website TrumpRx once it launches, the official added.But the costs for injectables would be higher.US officials said that the direct-to-consumer channel will see costs of injectable GLP-1s start at an average of $350 per month, and that this should scale down over time.This would apply to drugs including Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound, according to a White House fact sheet.Starting around the middle of next year, Medicare and Medicaid coverage for the injectable drugs will be at $245 for those meeting certain medical criteria. Medicare copayment for eligible beneficiaries will be $50.The starting point for each Medicaid program depends on each state’s participation.”These low prices will enable Medicare to cover Wegovy and Zepbound for patients with obesity and related comorbidities for the first time,” the White House said.In exchange, the pharmaceutical companies will have certainty around tariff issues and access to beneficiaries who otherwise would not be covered by Medicare for obesity issues, an official added.- Fine print -Scott Kahan, director of a clinic called the National Center for Weight and Wellness, said the announcement “has the potential to be very valuable for many people.”But the final price to consumers once commercial insurance is factored in remains “unclear as yet,” he added.The three-year grace period from expected pharmaceutical tariffs threatened by Trump is similar to deals struck by Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Both had also reached agreements to lower drug costs in exchange for tariff relief.Trump has revived drug pricing efforts from his first presidential term, taking steps since returning to the White House to pressure pharmaceutical companies into voluntarily lowering their prices.Over the summer, he sent letters to 17 drugmakers, calling for them to lower prices or face punishment — a move meant to give Americans relief from medicine costs much higher than elsewhere in the world.Trump has previously threatened tariffs of 100 percent for branded pharmaceutical products unless companies were building manufacturing plants in the United States.The prevalence of obesity among American adults is estimated at 40 percent, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).