Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund is ringing the alarm bell over Tesla’s dependence on Elon Musk, citing “lack of mitigation of key person risk” as a primary reason for rejecting his new $1 trillion pay package.
The fund, a top-ten shareholder, will vote against the proposal on Thursday. While acknowledging Musk’s “visionary role,” it believes the $1 trillion award is too large and concentrates too much risk on one individual who also leads multiple other major companies.
Tesla’s board sees this dependency differently. Chair Robyn Denholm has explicitly told shareholders that the company risks losing “significant value” if the 54-year-old CEO decides to leave, arguing the pay is essential to keep him.
The vote is a high-stakes gamble. If passed and targets are met, Musk’s stake would jump from 16% to over 25%, solidifying his control as his personal wealth soars past $2 trillion.
This opposition is widespread. Two leading shareholder advisory groups, ISS and Glass Lewis, have joined the Norwegian fund and several US pension funds in recommending a “no” vote, questioning if any single executive is worth that much.