World’s largest wealth fund rejects Elon Musk’s mega Tesla payday

Elon Musk’s record-breaking $1 trillion Tesla pay plan has hit a major roadblock, and this time, the resistance is coming from one of the company’s biggest investors.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest and Tesla’s ninth-largest shareholder, has announced that it will vote against Musk’s controversial compensation package ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

While acknowledging Musk’s “immense value creation” for Tesla, the fund expressed deep concern about the “overall scale” of the reward, its potential dilution for shareholders, and what it called a lack of safeguards against “key-person risk.”

“We recognise Musk’s contributions and visionary leadership, but this pay package is simply too excessive,” the fund said in a statement on its official website.

However, this isn’t the first time Norway’s fund has pushed back. It also voted against Musk’s previous pay deal, which was reapproved last year before being struck down by a Delaware court.

Tesla has since redesigned the plan, tying Musk’s payout to ambitious goals like achieving an $8.5 trillion market cap, selling 12 million vehicles, and launching one million robotaxis.

Notably, the fund also opposed Tesla’s proposal to invest in Musk’s AI venture, xAI, and voted against two board members’ re-election, citing concerns over governance and accountability.

For those unversed, Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for November 6, where the final decision on Musk’s potential trillion-dollar payday will be made.