Major Tesla shareholder votes against Musk’s pay, but the odds are still in his favor
A major Tesla shareholder announced that they are voting against Elon Musk’s CEO compensation package, but the odds are still in his favor.
As we have been extensively reporting over the last few weeks, Tesla shareholders are set to vote on a new compensation package for Elon Musk worth up to $1 trillion.
The package is highly controversial. On one hand, the board, Musk, and his fans are presenting it as an “all or nothing” situation on which the “future of Tesla”, or even “the world” (actual quote from Musk) hangs in the balance.
The CEO has threatened to quit if he doesn’t get the package, which he claims is mainly about increasing his stake and control over Tesla as the automaker continues to develop AI technology, which he claims to fear in the wrong hands.
On the other hand, critics point to Musk getting more stock options than all other Tesla employees combined, despite being a part-time CEO for the better part of the last 3 years.
Furthermore, there are issues with the way the package is structured, which could lead to Musk banking tens of billions of dollars worth of options without delivering any major advancements at Tesla.
Now, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway’s massive sovereign-wealth fund, has pronounced itself on the compensation package as a shareholder.
They are firmly against it:
“While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk — consistent with our views on executive compensation.”
As of the last disclosure, the fund owns over 1% of Tesla’s stock, making it one of the most significant shareholders.
California Public Employees’ Retirement System, branded as CalPERS, also announced that it is voting against Musk’s pay package, citing reasons very similar to Norges’. The fund holds approximately 5 million shares of Tesla stock.
On the other hand, Baron Capital Management also pronounced itself on the pay package at the same time as the Norwegian fund. Unsurprisingly, given Ron Baron’s long-time support for Musk, Baron sided with Musk.
But his fund is much smaller and reportedly holds approximately 0.4% of Tesla.
The vote will be final at Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting on November 6th.
Prediction market Polymarket currently puts the odds of the package passing at 93% with $66,000 in trading volume:
Electrek’s Take
Institutional shareholders are going to make or break the vote for Musk. We know insiders and retail investors are going to vote for the package, since if you fall within either of those categories at this point, you are probably a fan.
But the institutional shareholders have other people to answer to, and they need to justify their votes.
“I like Elon and I believe in his ridiculous predictions about AI and robots” is just not enough. The proxy firms that advise those institutional shareholders have already pronounced themselves against, but the question remains: how many of them will follow the advice?
For now, it looks quite split, which would point to a yes passing as long as there’s a strong 90% yes turnout from retail shareholders, which appears to be the case.
After November 6th, Elon Musk will own Tesla forever. For better or worse.
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Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers
The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.
Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:
The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”
As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.
Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.
Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:
Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.
Electrek’s Take
In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.
It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?
Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.
Read more: Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
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The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.
Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?
Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.
A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.
Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.
Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.
Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.
The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?
Electrek’s Take
Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.
Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.
Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.
Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.
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