Elon Musk wants more control of Tesla, seeks 25% voting power

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who also owns the social network X (formerly known as Twitter), said Monday that he wants about 25% of voting control over his electric vehicle business.

Musk already owns around 13% of Tesla, or approximately 411 million shares of the company's 3.19 billion shares in common stock outstanding, as reported in the company's last financial filing for the third quarter of 2023.

That's a large stake, especially considering that Musk sold tens of billions of dollars worth of his shares in Tesla in 2022, largely to finance a $44 billion leveraged buyout of Twitter.

Now, Musk is angling for even more control over Tesla.

Specifically, Musk wrote on Monday, "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."

"Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla," the billionaire executive said on X.

"You don't seem to understand that Tesla is not one startup, but a dozen. Simply look at the delta between what Tesla does and GM. As for stock ownership itself being enough motivation, Fidelity and other own similar stakes to me. Why don't they show up for work?"

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk's post stood at odds with remarks he previously made suggesting Tesla is already an important AI and robotics company, and its value hinges on its prowess in these domains.

In April 2022, Musk predicted during Tesla's first-quarter earnings call that the company's humanoid robot, Optimus, "ultimately will be worth more than the car business and worth more than full self-driving."

Tesla unveiled an early Optimus prototype at Tesla AI Day in September