An investor and a major shareholder in Tesla is calling out Musk on the EV maker’s downturns. Christopher Tsai, president and chief financial officer of Tsai Capital, said he hopes Elon Musk’s job with the DOGE is only temporary.
Although Tsai has his own company, he is heavily invested in Tesla. Tsai Capital said in an SEC filing on February 12 that it owned 69,700 shares. This comprised about one-fifth of its $137 million portfolio.
In an interview, Tsai said, “I hope his involvement with DOGE is short-lived so he can spend even more time on his businesses.”
Elon Musk has been in Washington, DC, leading a plan to cut costs in the government. The company’s stock has gone down as he’s worked to get rid of whole offices and lay off thousands of people. The DOGE work seems hectic as he is paying close to no attention to his company.
Recently, he said that it has been hard to balance the government’s work and his companies. As a result, shares have gone down every week that Musk has been in Washington, D.C. DOGE has affected Elon Musk in every way possible, but he thinks it’s worth it.
Tesla investors express their distress
When President Donald Trump won the election in November, Tesla’s price went up at first, but it has since dropped more than 50% from its recent highs. In fact, this month, its stock went down 15% in one day alone. Meanwhile, the decline continues as the price sits at $238.
Sales for the company have also gone down in China and Europe. Many Tesla supporters agree with Tsai that Musk isn’t giving the company enough attention.
However, Tesla investors have had an issue even before Musk joined DOGE. According to them, Musk focuses on AI more than the rest of his companies.
Ross Gerber, a longtime investor, said, “His 100% focus is on AI, and that’s really a detriment to Tesla more than it’s a plus for xAI and all the other businesses because he doesn’t work at Tesla anymore.” Now, Tesla investors are no longer competing with AI for Musk’s attention but with DOGE.
A website for trading stocks has shown how unhappy investors are with Musk’s actions outside of his official commitments. A recent vote on the site asked, “Is Musk’s focus on the White House hurting Tesla?” About 60% of those who answered said, “Yes, Tesla needs his focus.”
Another 25% said no, saying that the story was made up by the media, and the last 15% blamed forces outside of Musk.
Ross Gerber also said that Musk has hurt the EV maker’s reputation and that the simplest solution would be for him to stop being involved in day-to-day operations. He believes that a different person should be appointed CEO. According to him, about $150 to $200 per share is based on Musk’s presence.
Investors blame Robyn Denholm, who supervises CEO Musk
Musk hand-picked Robyn Denholm to run Tesla’s board. She is the best-paid chair at any public company in the U.S.
According to recent market prices, Tesla has paid her about $682 million in cash and stock since she joined the board in 2014. The number changes with the market, but it has grown quickly because the value of Tesla stock has gone up so much while she has been chair.
Some investors are complaining about Denholm’s supervision of Musk. Although board positions aren’t usually full-time roles with day-to-day management duties, some people say that she is failing to make sure Musk fulfills his own supervisory obligations.
Michael R. Levin, a Tesla shareholder based in Chicago, said, “It’s Robyn and the board’s job to hold this guy’s feet to the fire, and it’s not happening.” It doesn’t matter who receives the blame; the fact is investors are not happy, and something needs to be done.
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