Tesla investors criticise "overcommitted" Musk

Shares in electric car firm Tesla Motors came under further pressure on Monday after a group of investors called on the board to rein in controversial chief executive Elon Musk.

The group, which published an open letter to chair Robyn Denholm and independent director Ira Ehrenpreis late on Friday, said they were long-term investors with more than $1.5bn Tesla shares, but had become “increasingly concerned” with governance and leadership issues at the US company.

In particular, they claimed the board was “failing to adequately represent the interests of Tesla’s shareholders”, and called its oversight of an “overcommitted” Musk “meagre”.

The stock, which has fallen 11% over the last five days and more than 50% over the last year, was down nearly 2% in pre-market trading as at noon BST on Monday.

The investors called on the board to ensure that the chief executive of Tesla dedicated “adequate” time and attention to the company, through either “a policy that limits the chief executive’s commitments or a chief executive succession plan”.

It also wants to overhaul the board, to better ensure its independence, and requested a meeting to discuss its concerns by 25 May.

So far neither Musk nor Tesla have publicly commented on the letter.

As well as being chief executive of Tesla, the billionaire Musk owns Twitter, following his $44bn takeover last year, and is co-founder of SpaceX.