Elon Musk's' old enemy 'has come knocking on his door again.
Recently, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren demanded that Tesla's board investigate whether CEO Elon Musk used Tesla's resources to benefit other companies he owns and operates.
Elizabeth Warren's open letter. Elizabeth Warren's official website
In a 10 page letter to Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm, she stated, "Tesla's board of directors seems to have failed to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility to Tesla shareholders and neglected to resolve the apparent conflict of interest of CEO Elon Musk." She believes that Musk's actions, such as transferring computer chips from Tesla to social media company X and artificial intelligence company xAI, may be inappropriate.
Previously, Musk admitted in June that he would repurpose the artificial intelligence chips he ordered for Tesla for X and xAI, stating that failure to do so would result in them being idle in the warehouse. Warren believes that transferring chips is a "misappropriation of company resources" and claims that Musk's creation of xAI itself may constitute an "inevitable conflict of interest".
It is understood that Warren has expressed similar concerns in the past and has requested the US Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Tesla.
It is understood that the friction between Elon Musk and Senator Elizabeth Warren began around December 2021. When Senator Warren tweeted about Musk being named Time magazine's Person of the Year, the conflict was ignited as she criticized Musk for paying very little tax despite being the wealthiest person in the world. She advocates for the establishment of a fairer tax system, allowing the wealthy to pay their own share. Musk responded provocatively, calling Warren "Senator Karen" and implying that she was like an awkward "angry mother".
Since then, the argument between the two has never stopped, and Musk has repeatedly criticized Warren's policies and political stance, especially in terms of taxation and regulation. He accused her of misleading the public with a populist stance and failing to effectively fulfill her duties. Warren continued to emphasize the tax contributions of billionaires and their impact on public policy, and directly named Musk multiple times.
At the end of 2022, Warren wrote to Tesla's board of directors, citing Musk's sale of billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares, partly to fund a leveraged buyout of Twitter (now X Company).
In August 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren stated in Washington that the US Senate should investigate Elon Musk's actions in preventing Ukrainian drones from attacking the Russian Navy fleet in the Black Sea in 2022. She told reporters during the first AI Insights Forum that there is a need to investigate how Musk possesses such power in the terms of the contract. At the same time, she also mentioned that the US Department of Defense should re-examine its contract with SpaceX to ensure that foreign policy is formulated by the government rather than individual billionaires.
On March 21st of this year, Elizabeth Warren once again called for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk's corporate governance issues. Warren pointed out that Tesla's board of directors lacks independence from Musk, and Musk uses his control over the board to serve his personal interests rather than the best interests of Tesla shareholders. In addition, Warren also mentioned Musk's threat to transfer Tesla's artificial intelligence product development to Texas, sparking new concerns about resource redirection and conflicts of interest.