Tesla has scheduled an annual shareholders meeting for November, one day after the electric vehicle company came under pressure from major shareholders to do so.
Billionaire Elon Muskâs company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that the meeting will be held on Nov. 6. A group of more than 20 Tesla shareholders said in a letter to the company a day earlier that it needed to provide public notice of the annual meeting.
Texas law states businesses must hold annual meetings within 13 months of their last one, if shareholders request it. But the law also allows for âwritten consent instead of the annual meetingâ to be executed within the 13-month time frame. Tesla is incorporated in Texas.
The annual meeting, given Teslaâs fortunes this year, has the potential to be a raucous event, and it is unclear how investors will react to the delay, which is rare for any major U.S. corporation.
Tesla shares have plunged 27% this year, largely due to blowback over Muskâs affiliation with President Donald Trump, as well as rising competition.
Many shareholders have been miffed by Muskâs participation in the Trump administration this year, saying he needs to focus on his EV company, which is facing extraordinary pressures.
âAn annual meeting provides shareholders with the opportunity to hear directly from the board about these concerns, and to vote for or against directors, the boardâs approach to executive compensation, and other matters of material importance,â the group said in the letter.
Teslaâs last shareholders meeting was on June 13 of last year, where investors voted to restore Muskâs record $44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier that year.
Tesla also said in its regulatory filing on Thursday that July 31 is the new deadline for the submission of proposals to be included in the proxy statement. In a January filing, Tesla said it would file its proxy statement for this yearâs annual meeting by the end of April.
However, the company filed an amended report on April 30, saying that it didnât have a date for the meeting yet. Tesla also said in that filing that it was creating a special committee to look at Muskâs compensation as CEO.
Also on Thursday, Musk said that the Grok chatbot will be heading to Tesla vehicles.
âGrok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon. Next week at the latest,â Musk said on social media platform X, in response to a post stating that Grok implementation on Teslas wasnât announced on a Grok livestream Wednesday.
Grok was developed by Muskâs artificial intelligence company xAI and pitched as an alternative to âwoke AIâ interactions from rival chatbots like Googleâs Gemini or OpenAIâs ChatGPT.
Yet Grok has had a bumpy ride during its rollout.
On Wednesday, xAI announced that it was taking down âinappropriate postsâ made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler.
Shares of Tesla rose more than 3% in Thursday morning trading after tumbling this week as the feud between Trump and Musk heated up again.
âBy Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
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