Elon Musk Wants 25% Voting Control In Tesla: Data Shows EV Giant Has Highest Retail Ownership Among Trillion Dollar Companies

Tesla Inc. TSLA has the highest percentage of retail investor ownership in the company among other trillion-dollar companies.

Check out the current price of TSLA stock here.

What Happened: Tesla’s retail investors hold 42% of the company’s shares, a number that exceeds other trillion-dollar companies, influencer Sawyer Merritt shared in a post on X on Tuesday, citing Bloomberg data from a Barron’s report.

Other companies include tech giants like Microsoft Corp MSFT, Nvidia Corp NVDA, Apple Inc. AAPL, Meta Platforms Inc. META and Alphabet Technologies Inc. GOOG GOOGL.

Interestingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had shared his desire to have over 25% control in Tesla in a post on social media platform X last year. 

“I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned,” Musk had said in the post.

He added that he would explore other opportunities and “build products outside of Tesla” if he couldn’t have 25% control. “You don’t seem to understand that Tesla is not one startup, but a dozen,” Musk said in the post.

He also shared that firms like Fidelity owned similar shares to Musk, but “why don’t they show up for work?” he asked in the post.

Why It Matters: The data comes as Musk’s control over Tesla was brought into question, as the billionaire was criticized for his involvement in politics by experts like former DOGE advisor James Fishback.

Gerber Kawasaki‘s co-founder Ross Gerber had also criticized Tesla’s board and the company, saying that Musk had “hijacked” the company and that his political activities would harm the EV giant.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives had also criticized Musk and laid out a plan for Tesla following the America Party row. However, he was asked to “shut up” by Musk on social media.

However, Musk’s stake in Tesla, as well as his pay package, has been subject to scrutiny as some members of the board disagree with the billionaire’s $56 billion pay package. 

Tesla, on the other hand, posted lackluster results in its Q2 earnings call. However, the company has recently signed major multi-billion-dollar deals with Korean companies like Samsung Electronics SSNLF and LG Energy Solutions over AI chips and energy storage options, respectively.

Tesla scores well on Momentum and Quality, while offering satisfactory Growth, but poor Value. For more such insights, sign up for Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings today!

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