Dear ,

State pension funds across the country hold millions of shares of Tesla stock worth tens of billions of dollars.

Over the past year, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has devoted more of his time and energy to political crusades rather than to his leadership at Tesla. This has included endorsing and contributing millions of dollars to help elect President Trump, amplifying online conspiracy theories, embracing far-right political parties across the globe, and perhaps most importantly leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as it eliminated thousands of jobs and billions of dollars at critical federal agencies.

Whether or not you agree with Musk’s political activities, there is no doubt that they have both distracted him from his leadership at Tesla and badly damaged the company’s brand. Yet Tesla’s Board of Directors has done nothing to hold Musk accountable. On the contrary the Board has convened a committee to develop a new proposed pay package for Musk after his previous pay package valued at over $55B was blocked by a judge who called it “an unfathomable sum.”

The shares our pension funds hold in Tesla stock give you a voice at Tesla’s upcoming Annual General Meeting. As a State Financial Officer who oversees the investment of our state employee pension funds and potentially other assets, I am urging you to call for accountability at Tesla. Specifically I urge you to:

1) Demand that any proposed pay package for Musk be reasonable and rationally benchmarked to the compensation of CEO’s at other similarly sized companies and that any compensation for Musk be tied to an expectation of full-time engagement as Tesla’s CEO.

And 2) To oppose the election of any Tesla’s Board of Directors who do not demonstrate appropriate independence from the CEO and adherence to corporate governance best practices.  

I believe both of these actions are completely consistent with your fiduciary responsibility. The retirement security of our workforce hinges on responsibly investing employees’ deferred wages. Companies we invest in should be led by executives who exercise good judgement and put the company, its workers, and its shareholders ahead of their personal political agendas.