The backlash highlights growing concern over Tesla’s governance and Musk’s expanding control, as the company faces demand headwinds due to the expiry of U.S. EV tax credits.
A group of Tesla shareholders, including the SOC Investment Group and state treasurers from Nevada, New Mexico, and Connecticut, has urged investors to vote against CEO Elon Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package at the November annual shareholder meeting.
In a letter to shareholders, the coalition also called for voting against the re-election of directors Ira Ehrenpreis, Joe Gebbia, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, criticizing the board’s “relentless pursuit” of retaining Musk, according to a Reuters report.
The group cited delays in achieving goals set at the last annual meeting, weakening operational and financial performance, and what it described as a “failure to provide meaningful real-time oversight of management.”
The opposition comes to light even as Tesla reported record quarterly deliveries on Thursday but faced concerns that the expiration of the U.S. EV tax credit could slow demand.
Tesla’s board proposed, last month, what it called the most extensive corporate pay package in history, valued at approximately $1 trillion. The plan would grant Musk up to 423.7 million shares over 10 years, tied to milestones such as increases in earnings, vehicle deliveries, robotaxis, and humanoid robots. It could raise his voting power by roughly 12%.
The proposal aims to address Musk’s push for greater control over the company after a Delaware court voided his 2018 compensation deal, valued at over $50 billion, deeming it excessive.
Earlier this week, Musk said on X that the new pay plan was not about personal compensation but about ensuring he retains sufficient influence over Tesla to safeguard safety if the company produces millions of robots. He added that he was uncomfortable with the idea of being removed by an activist shareholder advisory firm that doesn’t own Tesla stock.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a longtime critic of Tesla’s board and its oversight of Musk, also expressed his opposition. His term as comptroller ends Jan. 1, 2026.
In response to the shareholder letter, Tesla said on X that the performance-based plan aligns Musk’s compensation with “trillions of dollars” in shareholder value creation, adding that “if Elon Musk doesn’t deliver results, he receives nothing.”
On Thursday, responding to a user post about his record-breaking wealth, Musk wrote on X that he builds “a lot of things with awesome people” and that the companies creating those things “get assigned a big value.”
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Tesla was ‘neutral’ amid ‘high’ message volume.
Tesla’s stock has risen nearly 8% so far in 2025.
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