Twelve major pension funds are fed up with Elon Musk’s juggling act. The funds, representing 7.9 million Tesla shares, demanded the CEO commit at least 40 hours weekly to the electric vehicle maker. Tesla’s stock has plummeted 24% since December 2024, while sales slump in key markets. The board’s apparent indifference isn’t helping matters. With growing investor activism and pressure mounting, Musk might need to pick a lane – and soon.
Twelve major pension funds are fed up with Elon Musk‘s juggling act. In a bold move that’s sure to ruffle some Tesla feathers, these institutional investors have fired off a letter to the company’s board demanding their celebrity CEO spend at least 40 hours per week actually running the electric car maker. Imagine that – showing up to work full-time at your own company.
The letter, addressed to board chair Robyn Denholm, doesn’t mince words about the “crisis” unfolding at Tesla. With Musk spreading himself thin across SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), The Boring Company, Neuralink, xAI, and his foundation, something had to give. The recent Delaware court ruling invalidating his $56 billion compensation package only intensified the pressure.
As Musk juggles multiple companies, pension funds say Tesla’s CEO is spreading himself too thin, creating a leadership crisis.
Turns out that something was Tesla’s performance. The company’s stock has plunged 24% since December 2024, and sales are skidding in major markets. Reduced innovation has become a major concern as Musk’s attention remains divided.
These pension funds, representing roughly 7.9 million Tesla shares, aren’t playing around. They’ve accused the board of being “uninterested and unwilling to act” in shareholders’ best interests by letting Musk treat Tesla like a part-time gig. The funds understand that portfolio diversification helps protect against significant losses from a single investment’s poor performance.
And they’ve got receipts – declining sales, mounting competition from BYD, and a European market that’s increasingly giving Tesla the cold shoulder.
It’s not the first time investors have tried to rein in Musk’s wandering attention. Several pension funds have already voted with their feet, with heavyweights like KPA Pension and PensionDanmark dumping their Tesla holdings.
The Dutch civil service pension scheme ABP even unloaded its massive €571 million stake in 2025.
The demands reflect a growing trend of institutional investor activism, with these funds wielding their considerable influence to push for better corporate governance.
But here’s the kicker – these twelve funds only control a fraction of Tesla’s 3.2 billion total shares. Whether their ultimatum will force Musk to spend more time in the driver’s seat at Tesla remains to be seen.
One thing’s certain: these pension funds aren’t about to let Musk coast on autopilot.
