Major Tesla shareholders demand answers from Board on plans for next Annual General Meeting, accountability for Musk
July 9, 2025 – A group of Tesla shareholders representing more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management wrote to the Tesla Board of Directors this week calling on the company to announce the date of its next Annual General Meeting (AGM). Under Texas law, the company is expected to hold an annual shareholders’ meeting within thirteen months of its last meeting, which happened on June 13, 2024.
As of today, Tesla has not provided public notice of its 2025 Annual General Meeting, even though the July 13 deadline is fast approaching and written notice for the meeting must be provided to shareholders at least ten days before the meeting date.
The letter comes after six months of public and private tumult at the company. Wall Street analysts have widely criticized Elon Musk’s impact on the company’s stock, which dropped 7.6% at the start of trading this week after Musk teased the formation of a new political party in America. And last week, the company announced that its global vehicles sales dropped 13.5% in the second quarter, missing analysts’ expectations.
The letter cites a series of prior attempts by shareholders to engage the Board, including a group of state treasurers and other state financial officers overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars of investments who called on Tesla to strengthen Board accountability, and a group of institutional investors with 7.9 million shares who wrote to the Tesla Board about Musk’s compensation and director independence –– both issues expected to come up at the AGM.
Annual meetings provide shareholders with the opportunity to hear directly from the Board about these concerns, and to vote for or against directors, the Board’s approach to executive compensation, and other matters of material importance.
“When Tesla is already under scrutiny for troubling governance practices and declining company performance, the Board’s lack of engagement with shareholders is a red flag,” said SHARE CEO Kevin Thomas. “Tesla investors should not be treated as an afterthought.”
“Elon Musk can run to Texas, but he cannot hide from shareholders,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “Even under Texas state law, public companies are required to hold annual shareholder meetings; Elon Musk and the Tesla Board’s unwillingness to meet this basic requirement is a flagrant subversion of the decades-long rules and norms of corporate governance. As a trustee of the nation’s largest citywide pension fund, we are proud to join other shareholders who are rightfully standing up for shareholders and EV customers, who refuse to let Tesla operate for the benefit of one man.”
“Elon Musk and Tesla’s Board of Directors may have side-stepped Delaware courts by reincorporating Tesla in Texas, but they cannot sidestep accountability to shareholders,” Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman said. “Individuals and pension systems that invest in Tesla deserve answers about the company’s financial performance, insights into its operations, and the chance to voice their concerns about the company’s future.”
“Failure to hold an annual meeting on time is not a minor procedural issue. It highlights broader governance shortcomings that undermine confidence in the Board’s ability to protect long-term shareholder value. If the Board cannot fulfill such basic obligations, how can investors trust it to oversee strategy or ensure that Tesla has the right top management?” said Anders Schelde, Chief Investment Officer of AkademikerPension.
The investor letter asks the Board to immediately announce the date, format, and access details for Tesla’s 2025 Annual General Meeting, and to provide shareholders with sufficient time and information to engage meaningfully in the governance process.
For more information, contact comms@share.ca.
