Tesla CEO Elon Musk is all too happy to send his critics to his rival company.
At least, this is what he said in response to a group of investors calling for Musk to add two independent board directors. The co-founder of the tech company fired back via social media. His response came at a time when Tesla edged Ford's market value.
The limelight has been on Musk recently because of his other pronouncements, including his plan to fuse artificial intelligence with the human brain. His SpaceX program is also generating buzz for its development of reusable rockets.
'Buy Ford Stock'
Elon Musk took to Twitter to fire back at his investor-critics. The billionaire engineer said that they "should buy Ford stock." He followed this not-so subtle jab at Ford by saying "Their governance is amazing." The descendants of Henry Ford control the company's board of directors.
The crux of the issue came after five investment groups penned a letter calling out Musk to shake up the current leadership by adding two new independent directors. These five groups include CtW Investment Group, California State Teachers Retirement System, and Hermes Equity Ownership Services.
"We expect that as companies make the transition to publicly-traded status, the governance structures and practices in place at the time of the IPO will evolve to align with the company's changing strategy," the letter read. "However, Tesla's seven-member board is largely unchanged from its pre-IPO days."
Tesla's current board of directors include Elon's brother Kimbal Musk as well as Brad Buss, former chief finance officer of SolarCity Corp, which Tesla acquired last year. These ties are what investors worry about.
"While meeting the technical definition of independence, five of the six current non-executive directors have professional or personal ties to Mr. Musk that could put at risk their ability to exercise independent judgment," the investors wrote.
Musk followed up his jab at Ford by responding directly to the disgruntled investors, saying he already promised to add more independent members during the acquisition of SolarCity, although he was quick to say that the group had nothing to do with the decision.
Tesla Overtakes Ford
The Ford reference was a timely one for Musk. On April 3, Tesla became the second most valuable car company in the United States. Tesla surpassed Ford when its stocks surged by almost 6 percent after a strong sales performance from the Tesla Model S and Model X. Ford on the other hand sank 3 percent after weak March sales.
The result put Ford's market value at $45 billion while Tesla revved up to $48 billion. For a brief moment, Tesla passed GM for the No. 1 spot, but Tesla slipped to second place again. As of Wednesday, April 12, Tesla's value is estimated at $50.3 billion.
