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The final votes roll in to determine the fate of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's $46 billion pay package, the results to be revealed at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting this afternoon.
Laffer Tengler Investments CEO and CIO Nancy Tengler and MDB Capital Holdings President and Chief Market Strategist Lou Basenese join Market Domination to discuss Musk's performance as chief executive and the future of the EV company.
A Tesla shareholder, Tengler voted in favor of Musk's pay package, explaining that "he earned it. These were ludicrous targets at the time they were set, and he achieved them and surpassed them. And so here's a guy who's made a lot of money for shareholders over the years."
On the other hand, Basenese — who does not hold any stake in the electric vehicle maker — is bearish on Tesla under Musk, comparing him to the likes of Apple (AAPL) CEOs Steve Jobs and Tim Cook: "Does Musk have that protege? I don't believe so. If he did, he wouldn't be three-timing it at three companies as the leader."
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However, as AI continues to develop at Tesla, Tengler sees a clear growth trajectory: "This company has the best margins. And he's been he's been reducing the margins voluntarily to take share. Free cash flow is about to accelerate. Earnings growth is about to accelerate. And he has the vision. And he will figure out how to converge all these technologies."
While many investors may have gripes with Musk's behavior, she adds "this isn't a personality contest for me. There's a lot of CEOs and companies that I own the stock and I don't actually like the CEO, or how they operate, but they're good at their business. And as an investor, that's my job for my clients."
Yahoo Finance shared a poll at the start of the trading week, asking whether Tesla shareholders should approve Musk's pay package. Over 1.4 million respondents have participated in the poll, as of Thursday afternoon, with 93% voting "No."
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This post was written by Melanie Riehl
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