"After months of being relatively quiet following his resignation from the Department of Government Efficiency and subsequent fallout with President Donald Trump, Musk slammed proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis. "I just don't feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis, who have no freaking clue," Musk said. "I mean, those guys are corporate terrorists.""
"Musk, in a separate X post on Wednesday, also called into question the role of proxy advisory firms generally. The Tesla CEO echoed criticism by ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood by saying these firms, which issue recommendations to shareholders for how they should vote on proposals at public companies' annual shareholder meetings, have too much sway-especially with passive investors like index funds that have large voting power because of the shares they hold for clients. "ISS and Glass Lewis have no actual ownership themselves and often vote along random political lines unrelated to shareholder interests! This is a major problem that is not just limited to Tesla," Musk wrote on X."
Elon Musk labeled proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis "corporate terrorists" during Tesla's earnings call, saying their recommendations could lead to his ouster. He reinforced the criticism on X, alleging the firms have no ownership and sometimes vote along political lines unrelated to shareholder interests, and echoed concerns from Cathie Wood about their sway with passive index funds. Advisory firms issue recommendations rather than voting directly, while institutional investors like BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street perform in-house analysis. Both firms previously advised rejecting Musk's 2018 pay package, though shareholders approved it twice. Glass Lewis described its role as providing analysis and recommendations.
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