Court told Musk's $56 billion pay wasn't for punching a clock

A Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) director and a former executive took the stand on Monday and defended Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package against a shareholder's claims that the entrepreneur dictated terms of the deal to finance his dream of traveling to Mars, Qazet.az reports.

Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta hopes to prove that Musk used his dominance over the electric vehicle maker's board to craft the 2018 package and then duped investors into approving it.

The first day of a week-long trial in Wilmington, Delaware, featured testimony from Ira Ehrenpreis, a Tesla director since 2007, who was pressed to explain why the board did not demand that Musk dedicate himself to the company full-time.

"We never had the kind of relationship with Elon where he was punching the clock," said Ehrenpreis, who chaired the committee that developed the pay package.

Musk, who is also CEO of rocket company SpaceX and founded tunneling venture The Boring Co, is scheduled to testify on Wednesday.