This week, some Nordic retail brokerages are breaking from their usual practice and allowing clients to vote at Tesla’s annual general meeting (AGM), responding to significant interest from investors and online comments from CEO Elon Musk. The June 13 AGM is poised to become a referendum on Musk’s leadership following a judge’s ruling in January that invalidated the CEO’s USD 56 billion pay package, deeming it an exorbitant sum.
With major shareholders split on whether to endorse the package, Tesla is turning to retail investors, who, excluding Musk and his brother, account for 48% of ownership, an unusually high proportion, according to Bernstein. Musk will heavily rely on support from retail investors as many institutional counterparts have indicated plans to vote against his pay, according to a Bernstein note. Musk expressed his intention in May to engage with banks and brokers that had restricted investors from voting, asserting shareholders’ right to participate.
Swedish banking platforms and retail brokerages Avanza and Nordnet have both decided to allow investors to vote in response to customer requests. Despite not typically offering the option for retail customers to vote at non-European AGMs, the two brokers, serving nearly 150,000 Tesla shareholders, made exceptions. A Nordnet spokesperson noted Musk’s emphasis on shareholder participation as influencing their decision.
Avanza attributed its decision to customer demand and Tesla’s status as one of the most commonly held stocks on its platform. Meanwhile, Sweden’s Swedbank offers a service for clients to register votes or digitally attend AGMs of non-European companies for a fee. Nordic banks DNB, Nordea, Danske Bank, and SEB did not provide immediate comments on the matter.