NEW YORK (CNN) – A group of progressive Tesla shareholders want the company’s board to get CEO Elon Musk to focus more on one of his many responsibilities: running the electric-car maker.
In a letter to Tesla’s board of directors, the group says Musk is not devoting enough time and attention to issues the company is facing, including increasing EV competition from other automakers, and addressing issues that matter to the group are important, including allegations of a toxic work environment at Tesla.
In addition to his role at Tesla (TSLA), Musk also runs Twitter, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, among others.
“We both initially added Tesla to our portfolios because we viewed Tesla as a true leader in manufacturing products and services that are essential to our transition to a sustainable and green economy,” the letter reads. “Over time, however, we have become increasingly concerned with corporate governance and leadership issues.”
Companies that signed the letter include Amalgamated Bank, a union-run bank, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, United Church Funds, Investor Advocates for Social Justice and the New York City Controller’s Office. The letter states that the investors signing the letter own $1.5 billion worth of Tesla stock, accounting for significantly less than 1% of Tesla stock.
For comparison, Musk owns or has options to purchase Tesla stock worth about $118 billion, or 20% of the shares. According to Forbes, Musk has a net worth of $175 billion.
The letter alleges that Musk’s lack of focus at Tesla is causing problems for the company, such as a high turnover rate among its employees due to its work environment. But it doesn’t explain what should be done to get him to focus on those issues.
“Tesla needs a board that will ensure the CEO is focused on meeting his challenges,” the letter said. “Due to the board’s failure to limit the CEO’s external commitments and ensure he is focused on solving the many challenges the company faces, we have lost confidence in its members.”
Ivan Frishberg, chief sustainability officer at Amalgamated Bank, said there are other investors concerned that Musk could be sidetracked, particularly by his recent purchase of Twitter, as well as his ownership and leadership of SpaceX and a number of other companies .
Frishberg said the group is not advocating replacing Musk as CEO.
“We’re a Tesla investor,” he said. “In terms of corporate governance, we would like the boardroom to become less club-like and more independent and responsive to investors.”
Musk is now essentially working for Tesla for free, with no cash salary, and after being granted a final block of stock options from a 2018 pay package earlier this year, there are currently no additional stock options for which he might qualify.
Some analysts have said they expect and would support Tesla announcing a new salary package for Musk to reassure Wall Street that despite his other CEO jobs, Tesla is still his priority. But Frischberg disagreed with this idea.
“I don’t think throwing more money at the guy is the answer,” he said.