A new twist has emerged in Tesla’s executive pay saga as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of the world’s most powerful investors, announced it will oppose Elon Musk’s proposed $1 trillion compensation package. The decision intensifies scrutiny of the plan ahead of Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting.
The Norwegian fund, a $1.5 trillion behemoth that owns a $17 billion stake in Tesla, said it values Musk’s contribution but views the plan as excessive. Its statement cited the “total scale of the award, shareholder dilution, and absence of sufficient governance checks” as grounds for its opposition.
Tesla’s proposal ties Musk’s potential rewards to the company reaching a market capitalisation of $8.5 trillion over the next decade. Achieving this would elevate Musk’s personal wealth beyond $2 trillion and expand his ownership from 16 % to about 25 %.
Tesla’s board argues the package is vital for keeping Musk engaged at a time when he leads multiple ventures, including SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter). Chair Robyn Denholm warned that failing to secure Musk’s continued involvement could “put shareholder value at risk.”
However, two influential proxy advisory firms, Glass Lewis and ISS, have both urged investors to reject the plan. They contend that the award’s magnitude far exceeds reasonable limits, particularly given Tesla’s uneven performance in recent quarters.
Tesla’s global sales have been slowing, with double-digit declines reported across parts of Europe and China. Analysts say these headwinds make the pay plan’s growth targets ambitious, if not unrealistic. Critics argue that shareholder returns should be prioritised over outsized executive rewards.
The Norwegian fund’s vote is part of a broader investor pushback against excessive CEO pay in U.S. companies. Its decision could embolden other institutional investors to follow suit, turning the shareholder vote into a defining test of corporate accountability in 2025.