(Reuters) -The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is set to vote against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion compensation package, the largest U.S. pension fund’s CEO said on Wednesday.
CalPERS, which is among the top 30 investors in Tesla and owns 9.5 million shares according to LSEG data, voted against Musk’s stock options package in 2018.
The EV maker’s shares have fallen nearly 28% this year.
Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday is set to be a litmus test for Musk’s leadership at a time when analysts expect the company to post its first annual sales drop and the billionaire attempts to shift focus to self-driving technology.
“We also raise questions about concentrating a large award on a single individual and (the) way it would strengthen the shares of Mr. Musk at the expense of diluting the value of those belonging to other shareholders,” said CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost.
Florida’s pension board voted in support of the $56 billion pay package, saying the plan “exhibits very high levels of pay-for-performance.”
In a post on its website on Wednesday, the Florida State Board of Administration also said it voted against Tesla director Kimbal Musk, citing independence concerns, and against Tesla’s proposed re-domestication to Texas.
With 2.89 million Tesla shares the agency is Tesla’s 80th largest investor.
A Delaware judge rejected the record compensation package in January after terming it “an unfathomable sum” that was unfair to shareholders, even though they voted in favor of the pay in 2018.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber and Juby Babu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Shumaker)
