Investor's Corner
Tesla CEO Elon Musk gets investor support amid Glass Lewis rebuke
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s 10-year Performance Award has attracted both support and criticism, with major investors Baillie Gifford & Co. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. expressing their favor of the plan, and proxy service firm Glass Lewis asserting its opposition to the CEO’s potential total compensation.
Baillie Gifford & Co. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. — firms which own a combined 14 percent worth of Tesla shares — have both announced their support for Musk’s proposed 10-year compensation plan. In a statement to Bloomberg, Baillie Gifford partner and fund manager Tom Slater stated that Tesla’s suggested performance award is satisfactory considering that the California-based firm has managed to grow and thrive due to Musk’s drive and vision.
“We think what Tesla has achieved so far is pretty remarkable, but there’s more they can do in not just automotive, but the energy markets. Elon Musk — his drive and his vision — has been a really important part of getting us to this point. Tesla still needs that drive and that vision to push the business,” Slater said.
Joel Grant, an automotive and industrial analyst at T. Rowe Price, further noted that the proposed performance award is a way to keep Elon Musk on the helm of Tesla. According to Grant, T. Rowe Price would prefer it if Elon Musk can lead the electric car maker and energy firm for the foreseeable future.
“The package was designed to retain him, and we are on board with the intention. We want to make sure that Elon stays and uses Tesla as a vehicle for a lot of growth,” the analyst said.
Proxy adviser Glass Lewis, however, begs to differ. In a statement to Market Watch, the shareholder advisor stated that the rewards waiting for Elon Musk if he manages to attain his goals over the next 10 years would be far too large. This compensation, according to Glass Lewis, has encouraged the proxy adviser to oppose the proposed performance award, according to a Market Watch report.
“Tesla’s proposal is peculiar in that it provides increasingly outsized compensation for levels of success ranging from noteworthy to unparalleled, while at the same time allowing Musk to keep his distance from the company.
“The potential up-front and future dilutive impacts to shareholders, along with the possibility of extraordinary pay levels even without commensurately exceptional performance, lead us to recommend that shareholders oppose this proposal.”
Modeled after his 2012 compensation plan, Musk’s new 10-year performance award is a high-risk, high-reward venture. As we noted in a previous report, Musk’s proposed award consists of a 10-year grant on stock options that vests in 12 tranches, with each of the tranches vesting only if the California-based firm can meet both the company’s target market cap and operational milestones. If successful, Elon Musk would raise Tesla’s market cap to $650 billion, and he would own roughly 28.3% of the company. If unsuccessful, however, Elon Musk will receive no pay at all.
Elon Musk’s proposed 10-year compensation plan is set to pass through a votation from the company’s shareholders on March 21, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. PST at the Tesla Training Center in Fremont, CA.
Investor's Corner
Ron Baron states Tesla and SpaceX are lifetime investments
Baron, one of Tesla’s longest-standing bulls, reiterated that his personal stake in the company remains fully intact even as volatility pressures the broader market.
Billionaire investor Ron Baron says he isn’t touching a single share of his personal Tesla holdings despite the recent selloff in the tech sector. Baron, one of Tesla’s longest-standing bulls, reiterated that his personal stake in the company remains fully intact even as volatility pressures the broader market.
Baron doubles down on Tesla
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Baron stated that he is largely unfazed by the market downturn, describing his approach during the selloff as simply “looking” for opportunities. He emphasized that Tesla remains the centerpiece of his long-term strategy, recalling that although Baron Funds once sold 30% of its Tesla position due to client pressure, he personally refused to trim any of his personal holdings.
“We sold 30% for clients. I did not sell personally a single share,” he said. Baron’s exposure highlighted this stance, stating that roughly 40% of his personal net worth is invested in Tesla alone. The legendary investor stated that he has already made about $8 billion from Tesla from an investment of $400 million when he started, and believes that figure could rise fivefold over the next decade as the company scales its technology, manufacturing, and autonomy roadmap.
A lifelong investment
Baron’s commitment extends beyond Tesla. He stated that he also holds about 25% of his personal wealth in SpaceX and another 35% in Baron mutual funds, creating a highly concentrated portfolio built around Elon Musk–led companies. During the interview, Baron revisited a decades-old promise he made to his fund’s board when he sought approval to invest in publicly traded companies.
“I told the board, ‘If you let me invest a certain amount of money, then I will promise that I won’t sell any of my stock. I will be the last person out of the stock,’” he said. “I will not sell a single share of my shares until my clients sold 100% of their shares. … And I don’t expect to sell in my lifetime Tesla or SpaceX.”
Watch Ron Baron’s CNBC interview below.
@teslarati :rotating_light: This is why you need to use off-peak rates at Tesla Superchargers! #tesla #evcharging #fyp ♬ Blue Moon – Muspace Lofi
Elon Musk
‘You chose ambition’: Tesla Chair hails shareholders for backing Elon Musk’s vision
Denholm stated that the vote highlighted TSLA investors’ continued confidence in both Musk’s leadership and Tesla’s vision for an autonomous, AI-driven future.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm has issued a letter to shareholders celebrating what she described as “overwhelming support” at this year’s Annual Meeting, framing the approval of Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar pay plan as a defining moment in Tesla’s mission.
Denholm stated that the vote highlighted TSLA investors’ continued confidence in both Musk’s leadership and Tesla’s vision for an autonomous, AI-driven future.
Denholm hails shareholder confidence
In her letter, which was posted by the electric vehicle maker on X through Tesla’s official handle, Denholm thanked investors for backing Proposals One, Three, and Four, items she said reaffirm Tesla’s “Master Plan Part IV” and its broader mission to accelerate sustainable prosperity. She characterized the shareholder vote as “a vote of confidence in our visionary leader, Elon,” crediting Musk with transforming Tesla into one of the most valuable companies in history.
“In a year when many tried to sow doubt and negativity, you chose a better future,” Denholm wrote. “You chose ambition. You chose to see what is possible. You chose to back the people who have been in the room since the earliest days, fighting for the mission that first brought us all together—a better world for humanity,” she wrote in her letter.
Her comments framed Musk’s pay package approval not only as a governance milestone but as a symbolic endorsement of Tesla’s long-term trajectory across autonomy, AI, and energy innovation.
“A whole new book” of innovation
Denholm highlighted Tesla’s push toward autonomy as the company’s next major growth phase, citing the Robotaxi program and Optimus humanoid robot as examples of bringing artificial intelligence “into the physical world.” She described this period as potentially “the largest value-creation event in Tesla’s history, and quite possibly in the history of humanity.”
The letter reaffirmed the board’s commitment to direct engagement with shareholders through Tesla’s online platform and live events. Denholm emphasized that feedback from investors “informs our strategy and strengthens us” as Tesla prepares for new technology rollouts and expanded AI capabilities.
“You, our shareholders, have given us the mandate and the runway to execute. We are humbled, and rest assured that we do not take that responsibility lightly… Thank you for believing in Tesla. Thank you for standing with us. We look forward to years of bold leadership and pioneering innovation, fueled by our commitment to creating a better future for all,” she wrote.
Elon Musk
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey endorses Elon Musk Tesla pay package
Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.
Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly backed Elon Musk’s leadership ahead of Tesla’s pivotal shareholder vote, which is expected to be decided later today at the company’s 2025 annual meeting.
Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.
Dorsey’s public nod framed as an engineering defense of Musk
In a post on X, Dorsey weighed in on Tesla’s post about being in a “critical inflection point.” As per the Twitter-co-founder, the vote on Musk’s 2025 performance award is not about compensation. Instead, it’s about ensuring the path for the company’s engineering in the coming years.
“This is not about compensation. it’s about ensuring a principled (and exciting!) engineering approach to the company’s future,” Dorsey wrote on his post, later stating that users of Cash app with TSLA shares would be able to vote for the CEO’s proposed 2025 performance award.
Elon Musk appreciated Dorsey’s endorsement, responding to the Twitter co-founder’s post with a heart emoji. Musk has been pretty thankful for the support for is fellow tech executives, also thanking Michael Dell recently, who also advocated for its proposed 2025 performance award.
Musk’s support
While Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award has received opposition from proxy advisors such as Glass Lewis and ISS, it has received quite a lot of support from longtime bulls such as ARK Invest, and, more recently, Schwab Asset Management following calls from TSLA retail shareholders.
“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved,” Charles Schwab told Teslarati.
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