A group of pension fund leaders with huge investments in Tesla have demanded Elon Musk work at least 40-hour weeks at the electric vehicle (EV) company.
In a letter to Tesla’s board chair Robyn Denholm on Wednesday, the 12 long-term institutional investors – who manage around $950bn in Tesla’s assets – said there were signs for “serious concern” at the company.
They pointed to Tesla’s “stock price volatility, declining sales, as well as disconcerting reports regarding the company’s human rights practices, and a plummeting global reputation.”
The letter continued: “Moreover, many issues are linked to Mr. Musk’s actions outside of his role as Technoking and Chief Executive Officer at Tesla, including his high-profile role as an architect of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”
The investors demanded that the Tesla board get Musk to work a minimum of 40 hours per week at the EV manufacturer to try and reverse the company’s fortunes, CNBC reports.
The 40-hour weeks from Musk must be a condition of any new compensation plan the investors arrange for him, they said.
The group also asked for a clear succession plan for management of Tesla and a policy that would limit all the outside board commitments at public and private companies of all Tesla directors.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Tesla has had a disastrous 2025, almost entirely self-inflicted by CEO Musk.
His actions and vocal role in Donald Trump’s administration as he head of a new government efficiency department have sparked a backlash against both him and Tesla.
As a result, the company has seen its share price plummet from a record high in December, whilst Tesla sales have declined across a number of western nations.
This week, Musk confirmed that he would be leaving Trump’s administration after helping axe thousands of federal jobs in his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, known as Doge.
The announcement came a day after Musk had criticised Trump’s budget bill, a centrepiece of his legislative agenda.
Musk had said he was “disappointed” with the bill which proposes multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and a boost to defence spending.
He argues this will increase the federal deficit and “undermine the work” of Doge.
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