Tesla’s $29 billion Musk payout faces opposition from labor and advocacy groups
A coalition of labor unions and progressive advocacy groups in the U.S. urged officials overseeing public pension funds to oppose fresh pay awards to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, claiming that its excessive cost poses a risk to workers’ retirement savings.
These groups include the American Federation of Teachers, and MoveOn, and they urged state officials to press asset managers to reject Musk’s new pay plans and push for stronger board independence at the EV maker, in a letter exclusively shared with Reuters.
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This comes amid discussions about Musk’s staggering pay package. In January last year, Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick voided Musk’s 2018 package, then valued at about $56 billion, calling it an “unfathomable” award by a conflicted board. This month, Tesla granted Musk 96 million new shares valued at about $29 billion as a good-faith interim payment while his 2018 pay package remains under appeal. The Tesla board stated that retaining Musk is essential as his leadership is “critical for the company’s transition from an EV maker to a robotics and AI-focused firm.”
Tesla shareholders ratified the critical for the company’s transition from an EV maker to a robotics and AI-focused firm in June last year. However, the court case remained unresolved, with McCormick later allowing for appeals that could extend for months.
“Shareholders in Tesla shouldn’t be taking dilutions so that the wealthiest man in the world can be handed additional Tesla shares,” some of the advocates said via email, as the group urged officials to oppose any new pay package, and to vote against directors who don’t show independence from Musk.
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These groups aren’t the only ones opposing Musk’s pay package. The SOC Investment Group, which advises union-backed pension funds holding Tesla stock, has urged NASDAQ to open a probe into the automaker’s handling of executive pay. In a letter to the exchange, the group questioned Tesla’s transparency with shareholders and raised concerns over the recent $29 billion equity award granted to CEO Elon Musk. The group argued that Tesla’s board sidestepped NASDAQ’s listing standards by approving what it called the “2025 CEO Interim Award” for Musk without seeking shareholder approval.
Musk owns roughly 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares, and his level of control over the company has been a topic of much discussion online, and among shareholders. Musk has also been an increasingly polarizing figure of late. His controversial statements, and his relationship with the Trump administration have been the source of much discussion. Tesla has seen protests and pushback for this reason, and these issues have become more complicated with Musk’s fallout with President Donald Trump.