Lehigh County pension board to stop buying Tesla stock, a first-in-the-nation move
Lehigh County’s pension fund board has voted to stop buying Tesla stock as the company’s earnings decline.
The board made the decision Tuesday in a 4-2 vote. According to Business Insider, it’s the first known pension board in the country to stop buying Tesla stock.
The board also told its investment manager to determine how the fund can divest passively managed funds from Tesla, an automotive and clean energy company headed by the world’s wealthiest man.
It’s a politically charged move at a time when the company’s owner, Elon Musk, has become a flashpoint of controversy over government spending cuts — which was immediately evident Wednesday.
In a joint statement with the grassroots group Tesla Takedown, Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who introduced the motion to dump the stock, attributed the decision to Tesla owner Elon Musk’s choice to become “a political figure rather than a customer-focused leader.”
Musk has spent much of this year working as head of the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, tasked with making major cuts to federal spending.
“Tesla’s earnings are down 71% from a year ago, their auto revenues have dropped 20%, and profitability has taken a sharp dive,” Pinsley added. “We owe it to our retirees and taxpayers to take a hard look at whether these are wise investments at this time.”
Yet Lehigh County Commissioner Ron Beitler said in a statement that three people who participated in the vote said it was not based on politics but on economic considerations.
“I do not support the county making investment decisions for our 2,007 retirees based on anything other than our financial responsibility to them,” said Beitler, a Republican who represents District 2 on the Board of Commissioners, in a statement.
“Whether a stock is tied to liberal or conservative personalities is irrelevant. Our responsibility is to make sound, nonpartisan financial decisions — and we’ve done that. Even during challenging markets, the county’s investment portfolio guided by professional managers has delivered steady returns.”
Beitler criticized Pinsley, a Democrat, for politicizing the matter.
“Unfortunately, our controller often turns straightforward matters into political theater,” he said. “In contrast, our bipartisan Board of Commissioners, Democratic County Executive, and several Retirement Board members I spoke with today remain focused on protecting the fund’s financial health.”
Beitler said the county would continue to hold a small amount of Tesla funds — less than 0.5% of the fund value — through indexed funds that track the S&P 500. Lehigh’s pension fund has about $500 million in assets.
Pinsley said in an interview he introduced the motion “out of concern for [Musk’s] political public profile and its adverse impact on Tesla’s brand and Tesla’s market performance.” He likened the action to former Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, and the Republican state treasurer, Stacy Garrity, agreeing to divest from Russian assets after the invasion of Ukraine.
“That move was both a statement of principle and a safeguard against the financial fallout of looming sanctions,” he said.
In a later statement, Pinsley said “fellow stewards of working people’s futures” should consider similar action.
State Rep. Josh Siegel, the Democratic candidate for Lehigh County executive, applauded the board’s move.
“Musk’s disastrous and dangerous DOGE initiatives have wreaked havoc on the lives of Pennsylvanians and Americans and his fundamental failure to run Tesla has undermined its credibility and stability as an investment for county pensioners,” he said in a statement.
In an email, Republican executive candidate Michael Welsh said the move appeared to be “nakedly political.”
“Regardless of whether or not this was a fiscally prudent move (only time will tell), it’s obvious from Pinsley’s statement that this was done for partisan political reasons, not out of concern for the taxpayers,” he wrote. “The people of Lehigh County should be alarmed about the fact that their tax dollars are being leveraged to advance a left-wing political agenda.”
Republican executive candidate Roger MacLean said he had “utmost confidence” in the county’s chief fiscal officer, Tim Reeves, and pension administrator Cornerstone.
“I’m sure the decision was made on sound fiscal policy and not anything to do with politics,” MacLean said.
In April, eight state treasurers wrote to Tesla’s board about Musk’s lack of focus on the company, while the American Federation of Teachers is pressing its asset managers to consider divestment, Insider reported. Overseas, the Netherlands and Denmark have divested from Tesla.
Originally Published: May 7, 2025 at 11:56 AM EDT