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As Elon Musk Exits Washington, Tesla Investors Demand He Work 40-Hour Weeks as CEO

Elon Musk recently promised to spend more time running Tesla. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Now that Elon Musk has wrapped up his high-profile advisory role in Washington, a group of Tesla’s institutional investors is pressing him to return his full attention to the company, which has seen sales plummet in key markets in recent months. The investors point to slowing electric vehicle sales and a slumping stock price as evidence that Tesla needs Musk back at the helm.

Yesterday (May 28), Tesla chair Robyn Denholm received a letter signed by 12 major pension funds that collectively hold significant stakes in the company. As first reported by the Financial Times, the letter calls on Musk to commit to working at least 40 hours per week at Tesla.

The signatories include New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, the American Federation of Teachers, Denmark’s AkademikerPension, and the SOC Investment Group, which collaborates with labor union pension funds to back shareholder initiatives. SOC is the investment arm of the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of North American labor unions.

“The current crisis at Tesla puts into sharp focus the long-term problems at the company stemming from the CEO’s absence, which is amplified by a Board that appears largely uninterested and unwilling to act in the best interest of all Tesla shareholders by demanding Musk’s full-time attention on Tesla,” the letter said.

The investors’ letter arrives as Tesla’s board reportedly weighs a new compensation plan for Musk, after a Delaware court struck down his controversial $56 billion pay package in 2023. The pension funds argue that any new agreement should come with a condition that that Musk commit to working at least 40 hours a week at Tesla.

“Given Musk’s leadership roles at four private companies and his foundation, the Board must ensure that Tesla is not treated as just one among many competing obligations,” the letter said.

Aside from Tesla, he partially owns and runs at least five other companies, including SpaceX, X, The Boring Company, Neuralink and xAI.

Musk recently promised to refocus on Tesla and scale back his role as the head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms. I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla . . . as we have critical technologies rolling out,” he wrote on X earlier this month.

Musk is the largest shareholder of Tesla, owning about 13 percent of the company. Its other major shareholders include institutional funds such as Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street. Because Tesla is part of the S&P 500 index (since December 2020), many pension funds that invest in index funds also own shares in Tesla. The signatories of this week’s letter collectively hold about 0.25 percent of Tesla, worth roughly $3 billion.



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The 11 Key Executives Running Tesla Behind Elon Musk’s Spotlight

Omead Afshar, vice president of North American and European operations

Afshar joined Tesla in 2017 as a project manager in the CEO’s office after working in the medical device industry. He later became project director and, in 2020, was promoted to senior director of Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory—a role he cheekily sums up on LinkedIn with a cowboy emoji.

In 2022, Afshar stepped back from day-to-day Tesla operations following an internal investigation into Project 42, a glass-walled structure allegedly intended as a residence for Musk—an allegation the CEO has denied. During this period, Afshar became more involved in other Musk ventures, including SpaceX and X.

His Tesla profile has since rebounded, now overseeing the company’s operations in North America and Europe. Known for his close rapport with Musk, he’s reportedly earned the nickname “the Musk whisperer.”

Lars Moravy, vice president of vehicle engineering

Moravy has served as Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering for the past six years, leading a team of over 2,000 engineers responsible for hardware design, development, testing, automation and manufacturing. He has worked on every major Tesla model, including the Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck and the upcoming Robotaxi.

Moravy joined Tesla more than 15 years ago, contributing to vehicle frame development. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Honda R&D. On a recent episode of the Ride the Lightning podcast, he said he made the leap to Tesla because it combined his passion for automobiles and environmental impact.

Brandon Ehrhart, general counsel and corporate secretary

Tesla appointed Ehrhart as general counsel and corporate secretary in 2023. He previously spent two decades in the telecommunications industry, most notably at DISH Network, where he served as general counsel for DISH Wireless. His legal background also includes roles at EchoStar Corporation and as an associate at DLA Piper.

At Tesla, Ehrhart leads a legal team that, according to a past LinkedIn post, aims to manage “all aspects of litigation and trial work, including briefings, hearings, discovery, depositions and trials, completely in-house.”

Franz von Holzhausen, senior design executive

Von Holzhausen brings decades of experience in automotive design to Tesla. Before joining the company, he worked on high-profile projects such as the Volkswagen New Beetle and held design positions at General Motors and Mazda. He became Tesla’s senior design executive in 2008 and has since led design efforts for every major model, including the Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck and the second-generation Roadster.

Ashok Elluswamy, vice president of A.I. software

Elluswamy leads Tesla’s A.I. software division, a key area the company expects to expand. He has headed the team since October 2024 and, according to his LinkedIn, is focused on “anything and everything required to get self-driving 4-wheeled robots driving widely.” His previous work includes developing Tesla’s in-house computer vision system and applying A.I. to tackle complex autonomous driving challenges.

Elluswamy joined Tesla in 2014 and was later praised by Musk as the company’s first official hire for the A.I. and Autopilot team. “Without him and our awesome team, we would just be another car company looking for an autonomy supplier that doesn’t exist,” Musk wrote on X last year.

Michael Snyder, vice president of energy and charging

Snyder began his Tesla career in 2014 as a staff electrical engineer and steadily rose through the ranks of the company’s energy division. He previously served as senior director of megapack production and business before being promoted in 2024 to vice president of energy and charging. In this role, he oversees Tesla’s integrated sustainable energy ecosystem, which includes solar, storage and charging infrastructure.

Before joining Tesla, Snyder worked at engineering and energy companies including HDR, SunPower Corporation and Flack + Kurtz.

Laurie Shelby, vice president of environment, health and safety

Shelby has led Tesla’s environment, health and safety (EHS) operations since 2017, overseeing workplace safety and compliance efforts for more than 100,000 employees across automotive, energy and delivery divisions. One of Tesla’s most senior female executives, she brings decades of experience in industrial safety. Prior to Tesla, she spent 17 years at Alcoa and held key roles at Reynold Metals, Radian Corporation and Dominion Virginia Power.

Karn Budhiraj and Roshan Thomas, vice presidents of supply chain

Tesla’s vast and complex global supply chain is co-managed by two executives: Budhiraj and Thomas. Budhiraj joined Tesla in 2014, bringing prior experience from Apple’s supply chain team and a consulting background at Deloitte. He initially oversaw powertrain and electronics programs before being promoted to vice president of supply chain in 2018. He now manages key areas such as batteries, electronics, construction, manufacturing and distribution.

Thomas, who reports directly to Musk, was appointed vice president in 2020. He is responsible for vehicle and solar sourcing and other critical supply functions. Thomas joined Tesla in 2019 as a purchasing manager for propulsion, thermal and climate systems, following earlier roles in supply operations at Tellabs and Sanmina.



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Elon Musk Announces Starlink’s Expansion to Saudi Arabia During Trump’s Mideast Tour

Elon Musk attends a “coffee ceremony” while visiting U.S. President Donald Trump at the Saudi Royal Court on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Starlink, the satellite internet venture run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, already operates the world’s largest constellation with more than 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit. Now, the service is expanding its global reach even further, having recently secured approvals in countries such as Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, as Musk announced today (May 13), Saudi Arabia.

“I’d also like to thank the kingdom for approving Starlink for maritime and aviation use,” Musk said while speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh. He did not provide a timeline for when Starlink service would begin in Saudi Arabia or whether it would extend to residential users. The service is currently available in over 125 countries, including nearby nations like Qatar and Jordan.

Musk is one of the prominent tech leaders accompanying President Donald Trump in Riyadh this week as part of his Middle East visit. Other attendees at the event include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. 

Musk also used the forum to promote several of his other ventures to Saudi officials and investors, including his tunneling company, The Boring Company, and his A.I. startup, xAI. He also said that Tesla’s autonomous robotaxis will eventually operate in Saudi Arabia without sharing any details. “I think it would be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom, if you’re amenable,” Musk said, describing the vehicles as “robots on four wheels.”

Tesla has increasingly shifted its focus toward robotics and autonomous technology in recent years. Musk said he recently demonstrated the company’s Optimus humanoid robots to both President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and predicted the future deployment of “tens of billions” of such robots.

According to Musk, the rise of humanoid robots could drive a dramatic expansion of the global economy—potentially growing it tenfold—by vastly increasing productivity. He envisioned a world shaped by “universal high income,” where abundant goods and services are widely accessible. “Once you have humanoid robots,” he said, “the actual economic output potential is tremendous—it’s really unlimited.”

Musk recently said he would step away from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and devote more attention to Tesla, which experienced slowing sales and stock selloffs in recent months.



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