Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, has revealed his desire to have more voting power at the company in order to propel its ambitions in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Currently holding a 13% stake in Tesla, Musk believes that having approximately 25% voting control is crucial for him to confidently pursue the growth of Tesla’s AI initiatives.
In a post on X, Musk emphasized the importance of his desired level of voting control, stating, “I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI and robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned.” Should this condition not be met, Musk indicated that he would prefer to develop products outside of Tesla.
Addressing concerns about the board’s independence, Musk praised the Tesla board while mentioning that a pending decision related to a lawsuit over his compensation package has delayed discussions on a new compensation plan. The lawsuit, filed by Tesla shareholder Richard J. Tornetta in 2018, alleges that the compensation committee lacked impartiality and was influenced by Musk when granting him stock options.
Musk stressed the vulnerability of Tesla to takeovers with less than 15% voting power, pointing out the risk posed by “dubious interests.” It is worth noting that Musk recently sold billions of dollars’ worth of Tesla stock to finance his acquisition of Twitter (now known as X).
While Musk clarified that his focus is primarily on voting influence rather than compensation arrangements, he expressed willingness to consider a dual-class voting system to achieve his objective. However, he claimed that he was informed such an arrangement was not feasible after Tesla’s initial public offering.
Tesla has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Since the start of 2024, Tesla’s stock has experienced a decline of 12% as of Friday. In premarket trading on Tuesday, the stock was down by 2.2%. Additionally, U.S.-listed Chinese electric vehicle (EV) stocks were also lower due to a slump in Asian markets, with Li Auto falling by 4.8%, NIO declining by 1.7%, and XPeng experiencing a 6% drop.