Elon Musk Demands Larger Stake in Tesla, Citing Importance of AI and Robotics – What This Means for the Company’s Future

The Battle for Control: Elon Musk’s Demand for a Larger Stake in Tesla

Elon Musk has demanded a larger stake in Tesla that would nearly double his current stake.

Musk’s Demands

In a series of posts on X, the Tesla CEO said he would not feel comfortable developing the automaker into a leader in artificial intelligence and robotics without having at least 25% voting control of the company.

“I am uncomfortable with Tesla developing into a leader in AI and robotics without approximately 25% voting control,” Musk wrote. “Unless that is the case, I would prefer to develop products outside of Tesla.”

Stake Reduction

Previously, Musk owned more than a 20% stake in Tesla, but he now owns about 13% of the company’s shares after selling billions of dollars in shares in 2022 in part to help finance his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.

Future of Tesla

Tesla remains a leader in electric cars, but Musk said he believes the company’s future lies in artificial intelligence and robotics. In January 2022, he said the company’s goal of building a humanoid robot was the most important technology it was developing.

“I think this could be more important than the auto trade over time,” he said in a call with Wall Street analysts.

In September, Tesla introduced the robot at its AI Day, but company leaders indicated it was not ready for peak time.

On AI Day, the robot, named Optimus, was seen walking stiffly across the stage before slowly waving to the audience and gesturing for about one minute.

However, Tesla believes that robotics technology is key to its future and to keeping its investors on its side.

Analyst’s Perspective

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the comments created a “firestorm” for Tesla. “If Musk eventually goes the route of creating his own company (separate from Tesla) for next-generation AI projects, this would clearly be a very negative thing for Tesla,” he wrote. Ives added that he expects Tesla’s board of directors to be able to resolve the issue.

Source

Source: Independent

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