Now that Elon Musk has ended his high-profile consulting role in Washington, a group of Tesla’s institutional investors are urging him to focus his attention on the company, whose sales trends in major markets in recent months have declined. Investors point out that slowing electric vehicle sales and low stock prices are evidence that Tesla needs Musk to have.
Yesterday (May 28), Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm received letters signed by 12 major pension funds, which collectively hold important stakes in the company. As the Financial Times first reported, the letter called on Musk to work at least 40 hours a week at Tesla.
Signators include New York City auditor Brad Lander, Oregon Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, American Federation of Teachers, Denmark’s Akademikerpension and SOC Investment Group, which team works with union pension funds to support shareholder initiatives. SOC is the investment unit of the North American Union Alliance Strategic Organization Center.
“The current crisis at Tesla has caused the company’s long-term problems to be absent from the CEO, and the board seems to be largely uninterested and unwilling to act in the best interests of all Tesla shareholders, demanding the best interests of all Tesla shareholders, and Musk’s full-time attention on Tesla.”
Tesla’s board reportedly weighed Musk’s new compensation plan after Tesla’s board of directors reversed his controversial $56 billion compensation plan in 2023, the pension fund believes that any new agreement should have a condition, with Musk promising to work at Tesla for at least 40 hours a week.
“Given Musk’s leadership roles at four private companies and their foundations, the board must ensure that Tesla is not seen as one of many competing obligations,” the letter said.
In addition to Tesla, he partially owns and operates at least five companies, including SpaceX, X, Boring Company, Neuralink and Xai.
Musk recently promised to refocus Tesla and reduce his role as head of the Trump administration’s Department of Efficiency (DOGE). He wrote on X earlier this month: “Back to 24/7 in the work/server/factory room, I have to be very focused on X/XAI and Tesla…because we have key technologies being rolled out.”
Musk is Tesla’s largest shareholder, owning about 13% of the company. Its other major shareholders include institutional funds such as Pioneer, BlackRock and State Street. Since Tesla is part of the S&P 500 (since December 2020), many pension funds that invest in index funds also own stocks in Tesla. The signatories of this week’s letters together account for 0.25% of Tesla, worth about $3 billion.
