New York City’s pension funds are planning to sue Tesla, accusing CEO Elon Musk of causing the company’s stock price to plummet due to his actions as head of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting effort. Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees the city’s five public pension funds, claims that Musk’s policies have harmed Tesla’s business and led to a 34% drop in the value of the pension system’s Tesla holdings.
Lander argues that Tesla falsely represented Musk’s level of involvement with the company, saying he spends “significant time on the company and is highly active” in its management. However, Lander claims that Musk has effectively abandoned Tesla to focus on his other ventures, including DOGE (Dogecoin), where he took actions that alienated Tesla’s consumer base.
The pension funds are seeking policy and governance changes at Tesla, with the aim of recovering losses and mitigating further damage. The lawsuit comes after Tesla faced vandalism of its dealerships, a 50% decline in its share price, and celebrities selling their Teslas due to association with Musk.
Lander is running for mayor and has pledged to protect the city from Trump administration policies that could harm it. This is not the first time the pension funds have raised concerns about Musk’s management of Tesla; they previously called for shareholders to reject his compensation package in 2024, citing concerns over his conflicting roles as CEO of multiple companies.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/nyc-pension-funds-elon-musk-doge.html