The debate over Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package has crystallized into a battle of opposing views: “significant value” versus “total size.” Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has firmly landed on the side of opposing the “total size.”
The fund, a $17 billion Tesla investor, announced its “no” vote ahead of the annual meeting. While it praised the “significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role,” it concluded the $1 trillion award was “concerning” and exposed investors to too much “key person risk.”
This directly counters the argument from Tesla’s chair, Robyn Denholm. She has warned investors that the company risks losing “significant value” if Musk, who has publicly questioned his future at the company, is not retained with this package.
The package itself would make Musk, already the world’s richest man, the first trillionaire, pushing his wealth over $2 trillion and his stake in Tesla to over 25% if targets are met.
This is the second time the Norwegian fund has opposed Musk’s pay, following its “no” vote on a $56 billion deal last year. With advisory firms and other pension funds also opposing, the stage is set for a shareholder clash on Thursday.