Despite Tesla's Stock Trading At All-Time Highs, Many Investors Are Concerned

Tesla Inc TSLA's stock has gained nearly 40 percent since the start of 2017 and continues to trade near the $300 per share mark but some shareholders aren't overly enthusiastic.

According to Gadfly's Liam Denning, Tesla received a letter earlier this week from several large shareholders including the California State Teachers' Retirement System and New York City's Bureau of Asset Management. The investors are demanding a meeting with executives to discuss the company's board composition, which they aren't happy with.

Specifically, the investors want Tesla to appoint two directors that don't have any direct links to the company's chairman and CEO Elon Musk. In fact, five of the six board members have a personal or professional connection to Musk and the investors believe members should be "held to a higher standard of independence given the conflicts of interest that permeate this board."

Hard To Make The Case For Change

Denning noted that even though just one of the seven members on Tesla's board isn't directly connected to Musk may not matter given the stock's performance. In fact, much of Tesla's stock gains may be attributed more to Musk's long-term vision versus the company's current performance which makes the case for any change to the board's competition more difficult to make.

Even the hotly debated acquisition of SolarCity hasn't deterred investors — the opposite occurred. Since the SolarCity deal was announced, more institutions added to their Tesla positions versus those that cut it.

So, why fix a problem that many don't believe even exist?

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