After opposing the compensation plan in 2018 and 2024, Schwab said Tuesday it will vote for Elon Musk’s pay package, ending a revolt by influential Tesla investors on social media platform X.
“Schwab asset management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO Performance award proposal,” it said in a statement. “We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns with management and shareholder interest.”
Earlier in the day, Charles Schwab Corp. said it was preparing a response to a wave of complaints from Tesla shareholders threatening to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars over the brokerage’s reported opposition to Musk’s compensation package.
The brokerage’s statement comes after Tesla investors launched a public campaign on X threatening mass defections ahead of Thursday’s shareholder vote on Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award plan.
“If @CharlesSchwab doesn’t vote for Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award plan, I’ll move all my assets to another brokerage,” Sawyer Merritt wrote Monday in a post viewed 1.2 million times.
“My followers, many of whom also hold assets with Schwab and collectively own at least hundreds of millions in $TSLA, may do the same,” Tesla‘s shareholder and content creator added.
Merritt argued he “can’t in good conscience stay with a brokerage that votes against this CEO Performance Award plan that is in my view clearly in shareholders’ best interests.”
“We are ready to move our shares. I hope @CharlesSchwab makes the right call here,” Merritt added. His warning prompted a response from Musk himself, who replied with a heart emoji.
Merritt responded to the CEO: “We got your back.”
Jason DeBolt, another investor with over 200,000 followers on X, also threatened to move away from Schwab.
“Here’s why this is urgent: At least 6 of your ETF funds (around 7 million $TSLA shares) voted against Tesla’s board, and my 240,000+ Tesla investor followers are asking why Schwab would oppose one of the most successful corporate boards in history,” he wrote. “Many of my followers are Schwab clients holding more shares than me (45,000 or more).”
DeBolt escalated the pressure in a viral post with over 3 million views, urging Schwab to “reach out via email, the mobile app message center, phone, or X DM.”
Alexandra Merz, another Tesla investor, said this Tuesday it received “many DMs that Schwab calls high net worth clients, saying they vote FOR,” but dismissed these as “cheap” confidential assurances, urging supporters to “state it publicly.”
The compensation package would only vest if Musk increases Tesla’s market value from $1.4 trillion to $8.5 trillion through deployment of humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles and AI technologies.
Norway’s $2.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund has already announced opposition to the proposal.
Last week, Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm warned that the company could lose the CEO Elon Musk if it is rejected.
“Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become,” Denholm wrote in a letter to investors.
As of press time, Tesla shares are trading 4% lower at $450.
