The Tesla stockholder and thrash rock drummer who roadblocked Elon Musk’s $56 billion compensation package has musical roots in the Lansdale and Norristown areas.
Rich Tornetta, who owned nine shares of Tesla in 2018, is making headlines recently for successfully spearheading a 2018 lawsuit against the Tesla CEO that argued the payout was unfair to shareholders, per a Loudwire report.
It eventually went to trial in 2022 and a Delaware judge last week sided with Tornetta, cancelling the massive payout to Musk.
"The compensation committee nor the board acted in the best interests of the company when negotiating Musk's compensation," the judge said, according to Loudwire. "There is barely any evidence of negotiations at all."
Rich Tornetta was born and raised in Norristown, according to his August 2006 online interview with Metal Underground. It was 18 years ago when Tornetta was behind the kit for the Philadelphia-based band thrash metal band Dawn of Correction, which featured George’s Music Berwyn and North Wales guitar teacher and former Fifth Street Pub co-owner Giulio Kitao on guitar.
Dawn of Correction, which played CBGB and The Trocadero, recorded at the former Birdland Music & Recording on Walnut Street in Lansdale, which was co-owned by the late Charles "Baird” Parker, son of famous jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird” Parker. The band released "Dead Hand Control” in 2008 and disbanded in 2009 after four years together.
Guitar virtuoso Kitao, of Norristown, formerly from Lansdale, currently wails for Ronnie James Dio tribute band Evil or Devine. Kitao also produced albums at Studio D in Lansdale, including the 2012 release "What We Do At Night” by Lansdale rockers Rough Justice.
According to Newsweek, Tornetta, an industrial designer by trade, works on various inventions and custom fabrications when he is not drumming, per his F6S profile, a site that connects startups to funding. He can be found on Instagram.
Tornetta’s case was tried in Delaware, as Tesla is incorporated there. Many businesses incorporate in the first state due to tax-free business benefits.
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