Elon Musk seeks to increase his stake in Tesla, suggesting a significant increase in voting control to pursue the company’s AI and robotics vision. The CEO wants to increase his stake to around 25%, double his current holdings. Musk’s intentions were announced in a statement on Twitter on X. It’s worth noting that Musk previously held over 20% stake in Tesla before he sold a large amount of stock to buy X, a social media company. Following this announcement, Tesla’s shares fell by 1.5% in premarket trading.
Notably, Musk has gone several years without a new compensation package. His previous package, valued at $56 billion when announced in 2018, was the largest for any CEO in history. The lawsuit against Musk and Tesla from shareholders is still awaiting a ruling from the Delaware Court of Chancery regarding the excessive payment.
Musk and Tesla are awaiting the court decision before agreeing to a new pay package. Musk also pointed out that he exerts little influence over the company and fears that investors with massive stakes, such as Fidelity and BlackRock, could undermine his ability to transform the company. He stated his concerns about having enough influence to avoid being overruled by interested parties and acquiring a more substantial stake to be influential while still maintaining checks and balances.
Musk believes that a dual-class system similar to that of Meta’s is not viable for Tesla, blaming “post-IPO Delaware.” Musk’s comments are at a time when Tesla’s future lies in the development of artificial intelligence and robotics. He has talked about the potential for a robot-led future, claiming that building humanoid robots is essential technology for the company and has the potential to be more critical than its vehicle business. However, there are doubts about the readiness of this technology. Optimus, the robot unveiled at Tesla’s AI Day, walked stiffly on stage. Investors hope Musk can deliver the innovations that will propel Tesla to new heights.