Billionaire Tesla shareholder Ron Baron says he supports Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package

Baron Capital has owned Tesla stock since 2014, and Tesla is the largest holding in the Baron Partners Fund.

“Elon is the ultimate “key man” of key man risk. Without his relentless drive and uncompromising standards, there would be no Tesla,” wrote Baron in his open letter.

“Especially considering how he slept on the floor of Tesla’s Fremont factory when the company was going through what he called ‘production hell!'” Baron added, referring to Tesla’s production ramp-ups.

Baron’s endorsement will come as a relief to Musk and the Tesla board, which has faced what Tesla chair Robyn Denholm described as a”huge hill to climb” in winning over shareholders.

Proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have both recommended shareholders reject Musk’s pay deal in the June 13 vote.

Tesla forcefully rejected Glass Lewis’ comments, and the company has pulled out all the stops in getting shareholders to vote, even offering Tesla investors a Musk-led tour of the company’s gigafactory in Austin, Texas.

The 2018 compensation plan gave Musk, who does not receive a salary from Tesla, a series of stock options that would vest when Tesla hit certain targets.

In January, a Delaware judge sided with a Tesla shareholder who had argued the pay plan was excessive, ruling that Musk was too close to some Tesla board members for them to act independently.

Elon Musk and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.