Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is questioning Tesla's Board of Directors about CEO Elon Musk to determine whether they have investigated the possibility of Musk using the company's resources to benefit his other investments, such as SpaceX and AI.
CNBC reported that Warren wrote a 10-page letter to Tesla's Chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, asserting that the Board appears to be failing in its fiduciary duties to the company's shareholders. Warren highlighted that Musk seems to have conflicts of interest with his other companies.
"Tesla's Board of Directors appears to be failing to meet its fiduciary duties to Tesla's shareholders by neglecting to address company CEO Elon Musk's apparent conflicts of interest," Warren stated.
Among the concerns Warren outlined in her letter are Musk's establishment of xAI, an artificial intelligence startup, and threats he made to work on AI outside Tesla unless he was granted greater voting control, among other issues.
Bloomberg reported that Warren also raised concerns about Musk potentially diverting chips from Tesla to X.
Additionally, Warren questioned xAI's poaching of Tesla employees and referenced an incident where a director resigned from Tesla, describing the company as "like a family company with fiefdoms, rather than a public company with stringent rules and regulations."
This is not the first time Warren has raised similar concerns. She serves on the Senate's Banking and Armed Services Committees and has previously requested that the SEC investigate Tesla and Musk.
In 2022, she also sent a letter to Denholm after Musk sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares, with a portion of the proceeds used to finance his buyout of Twitter, which was later rebranded as "X."
For years, Musk has been highly critical of Warren, even labeling her "Senator Karen." He has openly opposed her calls to increase taxes on the wealthy and her efforts to close tax loopholes affecting billionaires and corporations.
