Delaware judge reassigns Elon Musk cases after accusation of bias

In a significant development, Delaware's Judge Kathaleen McCormick announced on Monday that she will be reassigning cases linked to Elon Musk. This decision comes after Musk expressed concerns about potential bias, stemming from a social media post that seemed to criticize him. Last week, Musk's legal team formally requested Judge McCormick to step aside from two lawsuits involving Tesla, citing what they perceived as her partiality. The controversy revolved around a LinkedIn post that McCormick allegedly reacted to, which highlighted a court ruling that could impose a staggering $2 billion liability on Musk for allegedly deceiving Twitter investors. In a letter addressed to Musk's attorneys, McCormick clarified that her emoji response to the post was not intended to convey support, and she had even reported unusual activity on her LinkedIn account. Despite denying the motion for her recusal, she confirmed that three actions related to Musk will be handed over to other judges. McCormick firmly stated, "The motion for recusal rests on a false premise—that I support a LinkedIn post about Mr. Musk, which I do not in fact support. I am not biased against the defendants in these actions." She pointed out that she had previously dismissed a lawsuit against Musk in the past year. This tension escalated after McCormick ruled that Tesla must revoke Musk's 2018 CEO pay package, valued at approximately $56 billion, during her oversight of the shareholder lawsuit Tornetta v. Musk. In response to these legal challenges, Musk relocated several of his businesses, including Tesla, from Delaware to Texas and Nevada, advocating for others to follow suit. In a 2025 ruling, Delaware's Supreme Court mandated the reinstatement of Musk's pay package, declaring that McCormick's earlier decision was excessively harsh and did not allow Tesla to appropriately argue what constitutes fair compensation for Musk. Expressing her views on the media attention surrounding judicial actions, McCormick remarked that such scrutiny can hinder the fair administration of justice. She expressed confidence in her colleagues' abilities to handle the ongoing cases, which include two that remain in Delaware court: one regarding compensation for Tesla directors and another a consolidated lawsuit from investors claiming Musk violated his fiduciary responsibilities by launching his AI venture, xAI.