When Elon Musk appeared in the White House last week at a ceremony with President Donald Trump marking the end of his controversial role leading the federal job-slashing DOGE initiative, he sported a shiner on his right eye that he claimed came from toddler son X. That literal black eye will heal, but the figurative ones Tesla and Musk’s reputation have received from his political activities are likely to linger.

Some of Tesla’s biggest shareholders — including unions like the American Federation of Teachers, whose 1.8 million members participate in pension funds with $4 trillion of assets under management, including $8.8 billion of Tesla shares — see one group as largely to blame: the EV company’s board.

“People don't like Elon Musk,” AFT President Randi Weingarten told Forbes. “We've taken the position over the course of the last few months of: ‘Do your job board. Do your job financial industry. Do the job you're supposed to do, which is the governance of Tesla.’”

“Make sure he’s there or get another CEO”

Weingarten and the teacher’s union have been pushing fiduciary officers overseeing major state and city pension funds, as well as investment firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price and TIAA, to review their Tesla holdings and pressure the board to change its ways.

“We don't want Tesla to fail because if Tesla fails that means a lot of retirees are going........

© Forbes