ELON MUSK speaking to Tesla meeting (Shutterstock).

Was the business leadership of Elon Musk at Tesla worth $56 billion?

On Monday a judge in Delaware reaffirmed an earlier ruling revoking what would have been an historic compensation package for Musk. The judge also rejected a proposed $5 billion in legal fees for the plaintiff in the legal battle over his compensation.

She set the fee award at $345 million. The effect of the ruling is to return $41.4 billion worth of Tesla stock to the company.

According to Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, Mush had “engineered” his pay deal with a board of directors who were not independent.

The case stemmed from a lawsuit from a Tesla stockholder over Mush’s 2018 pay package.

Trump: “Hell to pay” over hostages

DONALD TRUMP (Shutterstock).

If Israeli hostages held by Hamas are not released by Jan. 20, there would be “all Hell to pay,” President Elect Donald Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday.

The New York Times reports that the post also reads “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody in the long and storied history of the United States of America.”

Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 6, 2023, killing about 1,500 persons and taking about 250 hostages, of which an estimated 100 remain as prisoners in Gaza.

Lakers chewed up by T-Wolves

The Los Angeles Lakers played their lowest-scoring game of the season on Monday night as they were beaten 109-80 by the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minneapolis.

It was the team’s fifth loss in seven games, and its star players – LeBron James and Anthony Davis – were held to a combined 22 points.

With rhe loss, the Lakers are 12-9 and in eighth place in the NBA Western Conference. The T-Wolves are 10-10 and in 11th.

Weather: Coolish, then warming

Through most of the week in our West Orange County area temperatures will be autumn-cool, before warming toward the weekend. The forecast for Tuesday calls for a daytime high of 68 with an overnight low of 48 with partly cloudy skies. On Wednesday, things should cool to 65 (45) under sunny skies. Thursday should be a bit warmer at 68 (48) with sun, and Friday the thermometer will leap to 79 (52), again with sunny skies.