Who would have thought that Elon Musk would end up on the front pages of newspapers once again in 2024. This time with reason, since the expensive purchase of Twitter forced him to get rid of many Tesla shares… and now he wants them back.
Elon Musk has given an ultimatum to Tesla: either increase his stake in the company to 25% or he will cut back on his AI and robotics development.
The billionaire already owns 13% of the electric vehicle giant, about 411 million shares, but it seems he won’t be satisfied unless he is granted another 12%.
More power or investigations will end
Writing on his own platform, Elon Musk warned that unless his ownership in Tesla increased to 25%, he would feel “uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI and robotics.”
Musk continued his threat by saying that without owning a quarter of Tesla, which he believes is enough to be influential but not so much that he cannot be overthrown, he would prefer to build products outside of the car manufacturer.
“They don’t seem to understand that Tesla is not a startup, but a dozen of them. Just look at the difference between what Tesla does and GM”, he added.
Musk continued questioning why large investors in Tesla who have similar stakes to his, like Fidelity, “don’t show up at the office.”
Investors who are already concerned about Tesla’s declining profit margins may not be pleased to read their latest post, which accuses Musk of drug use, his obligations to other companies, and the often erratic behavior of the CEO.
Musk reiterated that 25% is the perfect amount of ownership in Tesla and that he would agree with a dual-class voting structure similar to the one used by Facebook. However, it would be an illegal restructuring after the takeover bid.
Musk sold nearly $40 billion in Tesla shares in 2022, using most of the money to help finance his purchase of Twitter.
