Elon Musk’s departure from the Department of Government Efficiency has done little to quell the grievances of Tesla investors regarding the CEO’s absence from the EV maker.
“DOGE is just one of many outside time commitments that Musk has been sort of prioritizing over Tesla, Tejal Patel, executive director of SOC Investment Group, told Fortune. “Just because he’s leaving DOGE doesn’t mean he’s focusing on Tesla.”
“Mr. Musk’s outside endeavors appear to have diverted his time and attention from actively managing Tesla’s operations, as any other chief executive officer of a publicly traded company would be expected to do,” the letter said. “For many years, the amount of time CEO Musk has devoted to managing Tesla has been constrained because of his multiple privately held companies and other outside endeavors.”
“It’s impressive that he angered about half the U.S. by cozying up to Trump, and now he’s picking a fight with Trump over his awful, ugly bill, and is likely angering the other half of the country,” Frerichs said.
The signees also called for a clear succession plan at the company, including identifying “emergency” successors to step in for Musk should the company need it. Shareholders also asked the Tesla board to set more stringent limitations on directors’ and executives’ involvement in other companies and boards.
“We just want to make sure that individuals are able to actually dedicate enough time to oversee and, in the case of executives, to manage the company appropriately,” Patel said.
“It’s a little surprising to us that the board would nominate another director who’s considered non-independent under governance best practice standards, especially given the fact that their board has frequently been cited for having a lack of independence and deep connections to the CEO,” Patel said.
Tesla did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
As Musk prepares to step away from his role at DOGE, investors are adamant that the CEO has a long way to go in righting the EV maker’s course.
“In essence, it is a good first step,” said Frerichs. “But the question is, is he just freeing up time, or has he learned lessons from his time? Everyone makes mistakes. The question for me is, do you learn from them?”
“Does he still have interest in this company, or is he more interested in blowing up rockets? Is he more interested in going on rants on [X]?” he said.
