Tesla’s biggest investor: it’s a family business masquerading as a public company
Leo KoGuan has invested more money into Tesla than anyone in the world, yet he can’t even get his concerns heard by the company’s board. The shareholder is frustrated with some of the CEO’s recent controversies, but with the board MIA, there’s no way to reign him in.
We first reported on KoGuan in 2021 when the little-known investor became the third largest individual shareholder in Tesla behind Elon Musk and Larry Ellison.
The Indonesian-born Chinese American businessman is better known for founding SHI International Corp, a large private IT company that made him a billionaire. He is also involved in academia and philanthropy.
KoGuan has previously described himself as an “Elon fanboy” (the featured image above is him and Musk) and believes in Tesla’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. He has been willing to put his money on it and by 2022, he had invested more money in Tesla than Musk himself.
Of course, Musk invested early in Tesla, and therefore, he holds a bigger share with a smaller investment.
KoGuan is the third largest individual shareholder in the company, but you could argue that he is the biggest Tesla investor as he invested more than anyone in the company: $3.5 billion.
The investor is active on X. On the platform, he has been mostly supportive of Musk and Tesla, but like many other shareholders, he started to be more critical since Musk sold about $40 billion worth of Tesla shares to buy Twitter.
Interestingly, KoGuan doesn’t really comment on Musk’s most controversial statements, but he is concerned about his sales of Tesla stocks, how he did them, and what it means for his commitment to Tesla.
More recently, he also made fun of Musk’s request to have 25% voting power of Tesla:
KoGuan likes to call Tesla shareholders Elon’s “adopted children” and more recently, his “abused adopted children”. “Dear leader” is a reference to Kim Jong-il, the former supreme leader of North Korea.
I asked him yesterday if he has received any feedback from Tesla’s board or investor relations regarding his concerns, and this was his response:
“No response. Nil. Tesla is a family business masquerading as a public company to benefit only one person with his few friends and family. “
KoGuan is particularly concerned about the lack of oversight on how Musk dumped his Tesla shares on the open market. He told Electrek:
Why SEC allowed a CEO of a public company to dump his stocks worth more than $40 billion naked in the market to push the price down while predicting a market crash? He is now negative investing in Tesla or about minus $39 billion. He could have asked Goldman Sachs and Morgan Staley to sell those in block sales to fund managements that could keep those stocks, not dumping them in the market? Tesla’s shareholders are his abused adopted kids whom he could abuse with impunity.
It is fairly common amongst large shareholders and company insiders to set up a plan to sell large amounts of stocks in order to minimize the impact on the market.
The investor is bringing up legitimate questions and even though he is one of the largest shareholders, he can’t be heard by the board.
The board of directors of a public company is tasked with setting strategy, overseeing management, and protecting the interests of shareholders and stakeholders. It is technically overseeing the CEO, Elon Musk, who is, in turn, in charge of the entire management and operation of the company.
For large companies like Tesla, it is preferred that the board be independent of the management, but in the case of Tesla, the board has long been seen as being under Musk’s control. As Tesla grew, shareholders put pressure to hire independent board members, which Tesla eventually did.
But the board is still widely believed to be too close to Musk. Musk’s brother Kimbal, as well as longtime friends Ira Ehrenpreis, James Murdoch, and JB Straubel, are all on the board.
The board has also been granted record high compensations and even had to return $735 million in stock and cash as part of the settlement of a lawsuit brought on by shareholders over what they believed to be overcompensation.
Electrek’s Take
“Tesla is a family business masquerading as a public company.” Those are strong words coming from the biggest investors in the company. And it’s hard to argue against those words.
Do you know of any other major public companies like Tesla that don’t even have a public relations department? Elon is basically the sole mouthpiece for the company.
Tesla has 140,000 employees. It’s worth more than $600 billion. And yet, it appears to be completely under Elon’s thumb, for better or worse. It might have been for the better early on. No one believed in the vision more than Elon. His unwavering belief in himself and the mission helped break through doubts, but now Tesla is a different company. It’s not the underdog fighting for the impossible anymore. It made the impossible happen. EVs are now mainstream. Energy storage is now a critical part of the renewable energy infrastructure.
Now, it is about properly managing the immense scaling of that business, which is badly needed to support the world’s transition to renewable energy. It’s about a wide appeal. It’s not about being decisive. Tesla might need strong governance more than it needs a maverick at this point.
As for the board, it remains silent and uncommunicative to shareholders despite serious conflicts of interest and even possibly a breach of fiduciary duties of its CEO.
In 2018, Elon left OpenAi officially to “avoid a conflict of interest as Tesla is increasingly working on artificial intelligence“.
Yet, now 6 years later, Elon poaches Tesla employees to work on X and his new AI startup xAI, and openly talks about not building AI products at Tesla if he doesn’t get 25% control over the company, but the board doesn’t do anything.
Even one of the biggest shareholders and supporters of the company, Leo KoGuan, can’t get his concerns heard by the board. What hope do smaller investors like us have? It’s shameful, really.
The fact that Elon has the guts to ask for more control over Tesla when it’s clear that he has complete control over the company right now is absolutely ridiculous.
Of course, he only wants control of the votes and “not more economics”, as he said, and it’s just a coincidence that there’s no way to give him more control over the votes without giving him more shares, which he wasted on an overpriced Twitter.
There wouldn’t be a Tesla without Musk. It would have died on several occasions without him. But Tesla also would have died without its strong base of retail investors. They need to be heard. The board needs to do better.
I still have a little bit of hope though. I think the board could find the courage to confront Musk and, at the very least, have him agree to a framework that keeps Tesla safe from his clear conflicts of interest. If even that can’t be achieved, it might be time for a new full-time CEO at Tesla.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Robinhood stock hit an all-time high Friday as the financial services platform continued to rip higher this year, along with bitcoin and other crypto stocks.
Robinhood, up more than 160% in 2025, hit an intraday high above $101 before pulling back and closing slightly lower.
The reversal came after a Bloomberg report that JPMorgan plans to start charging fintechs for access to customer bank data, a move that could raise costs across the industry.
For fintech firms that rely on thin margins to offer free or low-cost services to customers, even slight disruptions to their cost structure can have major ripple effects. PayPal and Affirm both ended the day nearly 6% lower following the report.
Despite its stellar year, the online broker is facing several headwinds, with a regulatory probe in Florida, pushback over new staking fees and growing friction with one of the world’s most high-profile artificial intelligence companies.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier opened a formal investigation into Robinhood Crypto on Thursday, alleging the platform misled users by claiming to offer the lowest-cost crypto trading.
“Robinhood has long claimed to be the best bargain, but we believe those representations were deceptive,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
The probe centers on Robinhood’s use of payment for order flow — a common practice where market makers pay to execute trades — which the AG said can result in worse pricing for customers.
Robinhood Crypto General Counsel Lucas Moskowitz told CNBC its disclosures are “best-in-class” and that it delivers the lowest average cost.
“We disclose pricing information to customers during the lifecycle of a trade that clearly outlines the spread or the fees associated with the transaction, and the revenue Robinhood receives,” added Moskowitz.
Robinhood is also facing opposition to a new 25% cut of staking rewards for U.S. users, set to begin October 1. In Europe, the platform will take a smaller 15% cut.
Staking allows crypto holders to earn yield by locking up their tokens to help secure blockchain networks like ethereum, but platforms often take a percentage of those rewards as commission.
Robinhood’s 25% cut puts it in line with Coinbase, which charges between 25.25% and 35% depending on the token. The cut is notably higher than Gemini’s flat 15% fee.
It marks a shift for the company, which had previously steered clear of staking amid regulatory uncertainty.
Under President Joe Biden‘s administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on U.S. platforms offering staking services, arguing they constituted unregistered securities.
With President Donald Trump in the White House, the agency has reversed course on several crypto enforcement actions, dropping cases against major players like Coinbase and Binance and signaling a more permissive stance.
Even as enforcement actions ease, Robinhood is under fresh scrutiny for its tokenized stock push, which is a growing part of its international strategy.
The company now offers blockchain-based assets in Europe that give users synthetic exposure to private firms like OpenAI and SpaceX through special purpose vehicles, or SPVs.
An SPV is a separate entity that acquires shares in a company. Users then buy tokens of the SPV and don’t have shareholder privileges or voting rights directly in the company.
OpenAI has publicly objected, warning the tokens do not represent real equity and were issued without its approval. In an interview with CNBC International, CEO Vlad Tenev acknowledged the tokens aren’t technically equity shares, but said that misses the broader point.
“What’s important is that retail customers have an opportunity to get exposure to this asset,” he said, pointing to the disruptive nature of AI and the historically limited access to pre-IPO companies.
“It is true that these are not technically equity,” Tenev added, noting that institutional investors often gain similar exposure through structured financial instruments.
The Bank of Lithuania — Robinhood’s lead regulator in the EU — told CNBC on Monday that it is “awaiting clarifications” following OpenAI’s statement.
“Only after receiving and evaluating this information will we be able to assess the legality and compliance of these specific instruments,” a spokesperson said, adding that information for investors must be “clear, fair, and non-misleading.”
Tenev responded that Robinhood is “happy to continue to answer questions from our regulators,” and said the company built its tokenized stock program to withstand scrutiny.
“Since this is a new thing, regulators are going to want to look at it,” he said. “And we expect to be scrutinized as a large, innovative player in this space.”
SEC Chair Paul Atkins recently called the model “an innovation” on CNBC’s Squawk Box, offering some validation as Robinhood leans further into its synthetic equity strategy — even as legal clarity remains in flux across jurisdictions.
Despite the regulatory noise, many investors remain focused on Robinhood’s upside, and particularly the political tailwinds.
The company is positioning itself as a key beneficiary of Trump’s newly signed megabill, which includes $1,000 government-seeded investment accounts for newborns. Robinhood said it’s already prototyping an app for the ‘Trump Accounts‘ initiative.
WATCH: Watch CNBC’s full interview with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev
Korean auto giants Hyundai and Kia think lower-priced EVs will help minimize the blow from the new US auto tariffs. Hyundai is set to unveil a new entry-level electric car soon, which will be sold alongside the Kia EV2. Will it be the IONIQ 2?
Hyundai and Kia shift to lower-priced EVs
Hyundai and Kia already offer some of the most affordable and efficient electric vehicles on the market, with models like the IONIQ 5 and EV6.
In Europe, Korea, Japan, and other overseas markets, Hyundai sells the Inster EV (sold as the Casper Electric in Korea), an electric city car. The Inster EV starts at about $27,000 (€23,900), but Hyundai will soon offer another lower-priced EV, similar to the upcoming Kia EV2.
The Inster EV is seeing strong initial demand in Europe and Japan. According to a local report (via Newsis), demand for the Casper Electric is so high that buyers are waiting over a year for delivery.
Hyundai is doubling down with plans to introduce an even more affordable EV, rumored to be the IONIQ 2. Xavier Martinet, CEO of Hyundai Motor Europe, said during a recent interview that “The new electric vehicle will be unveiled in the next few months.”
The new EV is expected to be a compact SUV, which will likely resemble the upcoming Kia EV2. Kia will launch the EV2 in Europe and other global regions in 2026.
Hyundai is keeping most details under wraps, but the expected IONIQ 2 is likely to sit below the Kona Electric as a smaller city EV.
More affordable electric cars are on the way
Although nothing is confirmed, it’s expected to be priced at around €30,000 ($35,000), or slightly less than the Kia EV3.
The Kia EV3 starts at €35,990 in Europe and £33,005 in the UK, or about $42,000. Through the first half of the year, Kia’s compact electric SUV is the UK’s most popular EV.
Like the Hyundai IONIQ models and Kia’s other electric vehicles, the EV3 is based on the E-GMP platform. It’s available with two battery packs: 58.3 kWh or 81.48 kWh, providing a WLTP range of up to 430 km (270 miles) and 599 km (375 miles), respectively.
Hyundai is expected to reveal the new EV at the IAA Mobility show in Munich in September. Meanwhile, Kia is working on a smaller electric car to sit below the EV2 that could start at under €25,000 ($30,000).
According to the report, Hyundai and Kia are doubling down on lower-priced EVs to balance potential losses from the new US auto tariffs.
Despite opening its new EV manufacturing plant in Georgia to boost local production, Hyundai is still expected to expand sales in other regions. An industry insider explained, “Considering the risk of US tariffs, Hyundai’s move to target the European market with small electric vehicles is a natural strategy.”
Although Hyundai is expanding in other markets, it remains a leading EV brand in the US. The IONIQ 5 remains a top-selling EV with over 19,000 units sold through June.
After delivering the first IONIQ 9 models in May, Hyundai reported that over 1,000 models had been sold through the end of June, its three-row electric SUV.
While the $7,500 EV tax credit is still here, Hyundai is offering generous savings with leases for the 2025 IONIQ 5 starting as low as $179 per month. The three-row IONIQ 9 starts at just $419 per month. And Hyundai is even throwing in a free ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 charger if you buy or lease either model.
Unfortunately, we likely won’t see the entry-level EV2 or IONIQ 2 in the US. However, Kia is set to launch its first electric sedan, the EV4, in early 2026.
Ready to take advantage of the savings while they are still here? You can use our links below to find deals on Hyundai and Kia EV models in your area.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
As EVBox shuts down its Everon business across Europe and North America, EV charging provider Blink Charging is stepping up to offer support to customers caught in the transition.
EVBox’s software arm Everon recently announced it’s winding down operations alongside EVBox’s AC charger business. That’s left a lot of charging station hosts and drivers wondering what comes next. Now, EVBox Everon is pointing its customers toward Blink as a recommended alternative.
Blink says it’s ready to help, whether that means keeping existing chargers up and running or replacing aging gear with new Blink chargers.
“EVBox has played a significant role in the growth of EV charging infrastructure across the UK and Mainland Europe, and we recognize the trust hosts have placed in its solutions,” said Alex Calnan, Blink Charging’s managing director of Europe. “With the recent announcement of Everon’s withdrawal from the EV charging market, it’s natural to have questions about what this means for operations. At Blink, we want to assure Everon customers that we are here to help them navigate this transition.”
Blink says it’s able to offer advice, replacements, and ongoing network management to make the changeover as smooth as possible.
Everon users who switch to Blink will get access to the Blink Network portal via the Blink Charging app. That opens up real-time insight into charger usage and lets hosts set pricing, manage users, and download performance reports.
“At Blink, our charging technology is future-ready,” added Calnan. “With advancements like vehicle-to-grid technology on the horizon, our chargers are built to support the future of electric vehicles and charging habits.”
The company says its chargers are in stock and ready to ship now for any Everon customers looking to make the jump.
In October 2024, France’s Engie announced it would liquidate the entire EVBox group, which it said posted total losses of €800 million since Engie took over in 2017. EVBox is closing its operations in the Netherlands, Germany, and the US.
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike