A past personal conflict between Elon Musk and the CEO of Norway’s wealth fund is casting a shadow over the vote for his $1 trillion pay package. The fund, Tesla’s seventh-largest shareholder, has announced it will vote “no.”
This opposition reprises a conflict from last year. After the fund voted against Musk’s $56 billion package, its CEO, Nicolai Tangen, invited Musk to dinner. Musk’s texted reply was icy: “When I ask you for a favour… and you decline, then you should not ask me for one… Friends are as friends do.”
Now, the fund is once again declining a “favour.” It stated it will vote against the $1 trillion proposal, citing “concerns about the total size of the award, dilution and lack of mitigation of key person risk.”
The Tesla board, led by chair Robyn Denholm, is urging a “yes” vote, warning that Musk’s retention is at stake. She argues that the company risks “significant value” loss if the 54-year-old CEO is not secured.
This high-stakes drama unfolds as Tesla navigates a difficult market, with sales falling 13% in the first half of the year and slumping in key European markets.