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Hey everybody, welcome back to 
the Elon Musk Podcast. 

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This is a show where we discuss 
the critical crossroads, the 

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Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The 
Boring Company, and Neuralink. 

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I'm your host Will Walden, 
Tesla's 8th largest shareholder.

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Norway's $1.7 trillion sovereign
wealth fund announced on 

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Saturday that it will vote 
against ratifying Elon Musk's 

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$56 billion pay package. 
The decision is part of a 

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broader shareholder vote 
scheduled for next week. 

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Now. 
The Norwegian fund, which holds 

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a .98% stake in Tesla valued at 
$7.7 billion, has been a vocal 

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critic of excessive CEO 
compensation. 

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Now, Norwich Bank Investment 
Management, or NBIM, which 

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manages the fund, acknowledges 
the significant value created 

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under Musk's leadership since 
2018, but expressed concerns 

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about the pay packages, total 
size, the structure dilution and

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the lack of mitigation of key 
person risk, they said. 

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We will continue to see 
constructive dialogue with Tesla

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on this and other topics. 
Additionally, the fund plans to 

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support a shareholder proposal 
urging Tesla to adopt a policy 

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of freedom of association and 
collective bargaining, signaling

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support for labor unions seeking
influence over the automaker. 

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Now, the original pay package 
approved in 2018 was invalidated

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early this year by a Delaware 
judge who deemed the amount 

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unfair to shareholders. 
Judge Kathleen McCormick of the 

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Delaware Court of Chancery 
described the compensation as an

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unfathomable sum and criticized 
Tesla's board for failing to 

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disclose adequately the close 
relationships between the 

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approving directors and Musk. 
Now the package, reportedly the 

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largest ever for ACEO of a 
publicly traded company, came 

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under scrutiny for its excessive
size and the ease with which 

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Tesla could achieve the 
performance benchmarks tied to 

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Musk's compensation. 
The Norwegian sovereign wealth 

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fund also voted against the 
package in 2018 and has 

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consistently opposed high CEO 
pay packages that do not align 

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with long term shareholder 
value. 

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Now, if approved, Musk's 
compensation would remain the 

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largest for a chief executive in
the United States. 

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Now, Tesla's board of directors 
has urged shareholders to 

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reaffirm the package, which 
includes no salary or cash 

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bonus, but offer stock options 
contingent on Tesla's market 

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value rising to $650 billion / 
10 years from 2018. 

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Tesla is currently valued at 
approximately $571.6 billion. 

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Now, in a recent interview with 
Financial Times, Tesla board 

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chair Robin Denholm defended the
package, stating that Musk's 

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deserves the pay due to the 
company's impressive revenue and

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stock price targets being met. 
However, proxy advisory firm 

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Glass Lewis has advised 
shareholders to reject the 

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package, citing its excessive 
size and the potential negative 

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impact of Musk exercising his 
stock options. 

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Glenn Lewis also highlighted 
Musk's numerous other ventures, 

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which includes serving as chief 
technology officer and executive

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chairman at X or Twitter, CEO of
SpaceX, founder of Neurolink and

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the Boring Company, and CEO of 
artificial intelligence firm 

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XAI. 
These roles, the firm argued, 

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could detract from his focus on 
Tesla. 

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Musk has been Tesla's CEO since 
2008 and has played a crucial 

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role in transforming the company
into the most valuable automaker

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by market capitalization. 
Under his leadership, Tesla 

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reversed a $2.2 billion loss in 
2018 to achieve a $15 billion 

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profit and increase vehicle 
production sevenfold, according 

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to the Vote Tesla campaign. 
And despite Tesla's 

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accomplishments, the company is 
facing some challenges, 

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including a decline in sales 
volume reported in the first 

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quarter of this year, the first 
such decline in nearly four 

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years. 
This decline comes amid waning 

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consumer interest in EVs, and as
the vote approaches, Musk and 

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his supporters, including Robin 
Denholm, are working to persuade

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shareholders to reauthorize the 
2018 P package. 

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The main argument centers around
the premise that the original 

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deal should be honored, 
billionaire investor Ron Barron 

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said on CNBC. 
We said as Tesla as a company, 

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Elon, if you perform, this is 
what you're going to get. 

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How can you go back and renege 
on that, especially when all of 

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the directors and all the 
shareholders approved it? 

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It's crazy. 
Similarly, investor Kathy Wood 

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took to Twitter, expressing how 
can shareholders renege on his 

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pay package after Elon and 
shareholders already have taken 

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and overcome the risks 
associated with Tesla's rise to 

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producing the top selling car in
the world. 

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However, not all influential 
voices are in favor. 

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Marcy Frost, head of the 
California Public Employees 

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Retirement System, stated the 
pension manager would vote 

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against the package, deeming it 
not commensurate with Tesla's 

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performance. 
Musk responded by accusing 

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CalPERS of breaking the deal, 
stating shame on them, they have

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no honor and beyond. 
Tesla Musket faced criticism of 

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legal battles over his 
management practices at Twitter 

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and other ventures. 
After acquiring Twitter in 2022,

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Musk fired senior leaders, 
depriving them of severance 

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payments intended to stabilize 
the company during the 

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transition. 
And these former Twitter execs, 

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including Prague Grawell, have 
since sued Musk, claiming he has

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failed to honor financial 
commitments, and the lawsuit 

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condemns. 
Under Musk's control, Twitter 

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has become a scofflaw, stifling 
employees, landlords, vendors 

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and others. 
And Musk's approach to financial

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commitments has also been 
controversial. 

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In March, a Silicon Valley 
bakery complained about a 

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canceled Tesla order for 4000 
pies, to which Musk responded by

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promising to resolve the issue. 
And he wanted to make sure 

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everything was right and 
dependable. 

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Historical disputes over 
employee composition at Tesla 

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further complicate Musk's 
narrative. 2009 Tesla Co founder

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sued the company after being 
pushed out in denied stock 

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options. 
More recently, Jerome Jalen left

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Tesla in 2021 under contentious 
circumstances regarded unvested 

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shares. 
Now, despite the issues, Musk 

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has significantly contributed 
Tesla's success, achieving 

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milestones that seemed 
improbable to outsiders. 

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However, as the vote nears, the 
question remains whether 

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shareholders will uphold the pay
package or deem it excessive in 

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light of Musk's other 
commitments and the company's 

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challenges. 
Hey, thank you so much for 

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listening today. 
I really do appreciate your 

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support. 
If you could take a second and 

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hit the subscribe or the follow 
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platform that you're listening 
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appreciate it. 
It helps out the show 

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tremendously and you'll never 
miss an episode. 

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And each episode is about 10 
minutes or less to get you 

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caught up quickly. 
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support the show even more, go 
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And please take care of 
yourselves and each other, and 

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I'll see you tomorrow.