Tesla board gets an earful from eight state treasurers over Elon Musk’s focus

By Dana Hull Bloomberg The treasurers of eight US states have written an open letter to Tesla Inc s board of directors questioning the direction of the company and the level of attention Elon Musk is paying to its mounting challenges The overseers of funds and investments for California Illinois and half a dozen other states cite Tesla s sagging stock disappointing first-quarter deliveries and surge of trade-ins by conveyance owners as being among their causes for concern RELATED Tesla settles lawsuit by Black worker who alleged widespread racism at Fremont electric car factory Meanwhile CEO Elon Musk continues to divide his attention across multiple companies and a high-profile advisory role within the federal leadership the treasurers wrote These external commitments raise serious questions about whether Tesla s leadership is fully engaged in addressing the company s core challenges Related Articles Tesla settles lawsuit by Black worker who alleged widespread racism at Fremont electric car factory Tesla slides as analyst warns of code red ahead of earnings Tesla slumps below share of California s electric car domain Hackers replace Bay Area crosswalk audio with fake Zuckerberg and Musk messages These Silicon Valley tech leaders donated to Donald Trump Now they re out billions of dollars The letter pulled together in coordination with the advocacy group Americans for Responsible Rise heaps more pressure on Tesla and Musk ahead of the company releasing first-quarter earnings results after the close Tuesday The carmaker s stock has plunged more than from an all-time high reached in mid-December when investors initially viewed Musk s proximity to then President-elect Donald Trump as a positive The role the Tesla CEO has played in advising the administration has instead sparked a global backlash against Musk and his the majority valuable company California s Malia Cohen Illinois Michael Frerichs and the six other treasurers warn that if Tesla continues to falter it will ripple through regional economies and shake constituents confidence in the potency transition Although Musk moved Tesla s headquarters to Austin from Silicon Valley in California is still home to several of the company s manufacturing and engineering facilities Several of the states whose treasurers signed the letter including Washington Massachusetts Colorado and Connecticut have adopted California s standards aimed at boosting sales of electric vehicles In the letter addressed to Robyn Denholm Tesla s chair the treasurers ask the board to clarify how it s ensuring that Musk and his leadership club are devoting adequate time and focus to resolving fresh performance issues The state officers also prod Tesla directors about their approach to executive compensation and how they plan to restore investor confidence The board s role is especially critical now to provide strong oversight uphold fiduciary standards and ensure that the company s leadership is aligned with the long-term best interests of the company the treasurers wrote Residents authorities like us do not take the step of raising these concerns lightly except when the obvious risks demand it More stories like this are available on bloomberg com Bloomberg L P