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Op-Ed: Tesla faces a unique challenge–a growing number of investors who no longer believe in Elon Musk

Daniel Oberhaus, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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Tesla’s (TSLA:NASDAQProxy Statement 2024 revealed that the company is asking shareholders to approve two big proposals at the upcoming annual meeting of stockholders in June: Tesla’s reincorporation to Texas and the ratification of Musk’s 2018 compensation plan, which was rescinded by a Delaware judge in late January. Considering the sentiments of the Tesla community online today, it would appear that the electric vehicle maker will be facing a rather unique situation in June — a growing group of shareholders who have grown to dislike Elon Musk. 

Elon Musk has never really behaved like a conventional CEO, not for Tesla or any company that he leads or has led in the past. Tesla will also never have 100% of his time, as he is also the CEO of SpaceX, and he is involved with his other companies like Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI, and X, formerly Twitter. For years, Musk and the Tesla community seemed to have maintained an agreement that such a setup was agreeable. But with Tesla stock down 40% year-to-date, sentiments surrounding Musk have become quite negative. 

Negative Sentiments

These sentiments became quite evident after Tesla announced that it was looking to ratify Musk’s 2018 compensation package, and they became even more prominent when the company went live with https://www.supportteslavalue.com/, a dedicated website that encourages shareholders to support the company’s proposals. Such sentiments were quite notable in the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, a group with over 2.7 million members. When a user posted a link to https://www.supportteslavalue.com/, the vast majority of the comments claimed that they would be voting against the ratification of Musk’s 2018 compensation package. 

Support Tesla!
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The same is true on social media platform X. Musk has become more polarizing than ever as he continued to express his opinions on political and societal matters, and this has resulted in a growing number of Tesla community members seemingly getting disillusioned with the CEO. This was quite evident with Leo KoGuan, a prominent retail shareholder who claims to hold over 27 million TSLA shares. While KoGuan has been very supportive of Musk in the past, his recent posts showed a notable disdain for the CEO. “I fell in love with the crafted image, I was naĩve,” KoGuan wrote. He also noted that if Musk only spends more time at Tesla, the company would be so much better off.

A look at the overall sentiments of alleged TSLA shareholders that seem inclined to vote against Musk’s 2018 compensation plan suggests that investors are most frustrated about the company’s stock price, which has never really recovered since Musk sold part of his personal shares when he purchased Twitter. Many are also notably frustrated at Musk’s polarizing and controversial posts on X, some of which seem to be targeting the very demographic that initially supported Tesla and ensured its survival in its early years. The volume of Musk’s posts about topics like DEI, the US border, and politics has also given the impression that he is simply not focused on Tesla anymore. 

Elon Musk: Strength to Liability

Overall, the situation could be summarized as follows: In 2018, most TSLA shareholders seemed secure in the belief that Musk was the company’s biggest strength. In 2024, a growing number of shareholders seem to believe that Musk has become Tesla’s biggest liability. So prominent are these sentiments today that some have seemingly adopted the idea that Musk is now weighing Tesla down and driving it to the ground, so the EV maker’s best chance of survival is to kick Musk out of Tesla and replace him with a more level-headed and focused CEO — someone like Tim Cook, who is arguably not as innovative as Steve Jobs, but is the leader that brought Apple to a $2.55 trillion valuation. 

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As noted by Tesla community members on social media, TSLA stock, after accounting for the stock splits that the company has implemented over the years, was trading at less than $20 per share when Musk’s 2018 compensation package was initially approved. Thus, even in its current state, it should be noted that TSLA shares are still up over 800%. While Tesla has fallen significantly from its peak, when the company was worth over a trillion dollars, it is still more than eight times more valuable than it was when investors approved Musk’s compensation plan. 

In a way, voting against the ratification of Musk’s 2018 compensation plan will probably ensure that Tesla becomes a competent, predictable carmaker — and that’s not so bad at all. Tesla will still be one of the few American automotive startups that survived and thrived in a very long time. That’s a whole lot of accomplishments that can never be taken away from the company, no matter what happens moving forward. Voting in support of the company’s proposals would likely mean that Tesla, under Musk’s leadership, will continue to wager its future on risky innovations that hold world-changing potential, like AI and humanoid robots, all while Musk is focused on multiple, high-profile projects like SpaceX’s Starship program.

History will ultimately determine which of these choices will be the better option for Tesla. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Tesla analysts believe Musk and Trump feud will pass

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump’s feud shall pass, several bulls say.

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Tesla analysts are breaking down the current feud between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump, as the two continue to disagree on the “Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on the country’s national debt.

Musk, who headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump Administration, left his post in May. Soon thereafter, he and President Trump entered a very public and verbal disagreement, where things turned sour. They reconciled to an extent, and things seemed to be in the past.

However, the second disagreement between the two started on Monday, as Musk continued to push back on the “Big Beautiful Bill” that the Trump administration is attempting to sign into law. It would, by Musk’s estimation, increase spending and reverse the work DOGE did to trim the deficit.

President Trump has hinted that DOGE could be “the monster” that “eats Elon,” threatening to end the subsidies that SpaceX and Tesla receive. Musk has not been opposed to ending government subsidies for companies, including his own, as long as they are all abolished.

How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies

Despite this contentious back-and-forth between the two, analysts are sharing their opinions now, and a few of the more bullish Tesla observers are convinced that this feud will pass, Trump and Musk will resolve their differences as they have before, and things will return to normal.

ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood said this morning that the feud between Musk and Trump is another example of “this too shall pass:”

Additionally, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, in a note to investors this morning, said that the situation “will settle:”

“We believe this situation will settle and at the end of the day Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk given the AI Arms Race going on between the US and China. The jabs between Musk and Trump will continue as the Budget rolls through Congress but Tesla investors want Musk to focus on driving Tesla and stop this political angle…which has turned into a life of its own in a roller coaster ride since the November elections.”

Tesla shares are down about 5 percent at 3:10 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Elon Musk

Tesla investors will be shocked by Jim Cramer’s latest assessment

Jim Cramer is now speaking positively about Tesla, especially in terms of its Robotaxi performance and its perception as a company.

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Credit: CNBC Television/YouTube

Tesla investors will be shocked by analyst Jim Cramer’s latest assessment of the company.

When it comes to Tesla analysts, many of them are consistent. The bulls usually stay the bulls, and the bears usually stay the bears. The notable analysts on each side are Dan Ives and Adam Jonas for the bulls, and Gordon Johnson for the bears.

Jim Cramer is one analyst who does not necessarily fit this mold. Cramer, who hosts CNBC’s Mad Money, has switched his opinion on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) many times.

He has been bullish, like he was when he said the stock was a “sleeping giant” two years ago, and he has been bearish, like he was when he said there was “nothing magnificent” about the company just a few months ago.

Now, he is back to being a bull.

Cramer’s comments were related to two key points: how NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang describes Tesla after working closely with the Company through their transactions, and how it is not a car company, as well as the recent launch of the Robotaxi fleet.

Jensen Huang’s Tesla Narrative

Cramer says that the narrative on quarterly and annual deliveries is overblown, and those who continue to worry about Tesla’s performance on that metric are misled.

“It’s not a car company,” he said.

He went on to say that people like Huang speak highly of Tesla, and that should be enough to deter any true skepticism:

“I believe what Musk says cause Musk is working with Jensen and Jensen’s telling me what’s happening on the other side is pretty amazing.”

Tesla self-driving development gets huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO

Robotaxi Launch

Many media outlets are being extremely negative regarding the early rollout of Tesla’s Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas.

There have been a handful of small issues, but nothing significant. Cramer says that humans make mistakes in vehicles too, yet, when Tesla’s test phase of the Robotaxi does it, it’s front page news and needs to be magnified.

He said:

“Look, I mean, drivers make mistakes all the time. Why should we hold Tesla to a standard where there can be no mistakes?”

It’s refreshing to hear Cramer speak logically about the Robotaxi fleet, as Tesla has taken every measure to ensure there are no mishaps. There are safety monitors in the passenger seat, and the area of travel is limited, confined to a small number of people.

Tesla is still improving and hopes to remove teleoperators and safety monitors slowly, as CEO Elon Musk said more freedom could be granted within one or two months.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla gets $475 price target from Benchmark amid initial Robotaxi rollout

Tesla’s limited rollout of its Robotaxi service in Austin is already catching the eye of Wall Street.

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Credit: Tesla

Venture capital firm Benchmark recently reiterated its “Buy” rating and raised its price target on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) from $350 to $475 per share, citing the company’s initial Robotaxi service deployment as a sign of future growth potential.

Benchmark analyst Mickey Legg praised the Robotaxi service pilot’s “controlled and safety-first approach,” adding that it could help Tesla earn the trust of regulators and the general public.

Confidence in camera-based autonomy

Legg reiterated Benchmark’s belief in Tesla’s vision-only approach to autonomous driving. “We are a believer in Tesla’s camera-focused approach that is not only cost effective but also scalable,” he noted. 

The analyst contrasted Tesla’s simple setup with the more expensive hardware stacks used by competitors like Waymo, which use various sophisticated sensors that hike up costs, as noted in an Investing.com report. Compared to Tesla’s Model Y Robotaxis, Waymo’s self-driving cars are significantly more expensive.

He also pointed to upcoming Texas regulations set to take effect in September, suggesting they could help create a regulatory framework favorable to autonomous services in other cities.

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“New regulations for autonomous vehicles are set to go into place on Sept. 1 in TX that we believe will further help win trust and pave the way for expansion to additional cities,” the analyst wrote.

https://twitter.com/herbertong/status/1938287117441855616?s=10

Tesla as a robotics powerhouse

Beyond robotaxis, Legg sees Tesla evolving beyond its roots as an electric vehicle maker. He noted that Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, could be a long-term growth driver alongside new vehicle programs and other future initiatives.

“In our view, the company is undergoing an evolution from a trailblazing vehicle OEM to a high-tech automation and robotics company with unmatched domestic manufacturing scale,” he wrote.

Benchmark noted that Tesla stock had rebounded over 50% from its April lows, driven in part by easing tariff concerns and growing momentum around autonomy. With its initial Robotaxi rollout now underway, the firm has returned to its previous $475 per share target and reaffirmed TSLA as a Benchmark Top Pick for 2025.

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