Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk‘s push for a 25% voting power in the electric vehicle maker is pivotal for the company’s potential investment in xAI, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives.
What Happened: In a recent X post, Ives emphasized that this “level is the key” for Tesla’s strategic move into artificial intelligence, aligning with Musk’s vision to integrate xAI’s capabilities, such as the Grok chatbot, into Tesla’s ecosystem.
This comes as Musk, currently holding a 22% equity stake in Tesla, seeks to bolster his control amid discussions of a shareholder vote on investing in xAI, reported by Bloomberg on July 14.
Musk’s current voting power, enhanced by Tesla’s supermajority voting rules requiring two-thirds approval for major changes, already grants him significant influence.
However, Ives argues that 25% is critical for navigating the complexities of AI development and potential mergers, especially after xAI’s $33 billion acquisition of X and a reported $198.3 million spend on Tesla services, including Megapacks, as per a 2025 Bloomberg analysis.
Despite Musk’s readiness for a shareholder vote, as he stated on X, “It's not up to me. If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago,” challenges persist.
Why It Matters: The Tesla boss had asked X users last year if Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI. However, he had acknowledged that the robotaxi maker’s board and backers would need to green-light such a decision.
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As Tesla shareholders prepare for this decision, the 25% threshold emerges as a battleground for control and innovation in Musk’s corporate empire.
Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, quickly weighed in, saying, “If Tesla’s future is autonomy, then Tesla investors and the board should support the investment.”
“xAI can help power that future either as a partner or part of Tesla. The faster they can get cash, the higher the odds of success for both companies.”
Shares of Tesla have fallen by 17.34% on a year-to-date basis, but they were higher by 24.09% over the past year. It was up 0.95% in premarket on Monday.
Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings shows that TSLA had a stronger price trend over the medium and long term but a weaker trend over the short term. Its momentum ranking was moderate, whereas its value ranking was poor; the details of all the metrics are available here.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket on Monday. The SPY was down 0.29% at $621.80, while the QQQ declined 0.29% to $552.58, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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