Norway Just Told Elon ‘No’. And He’s Not Going to Like It

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund just threw cold, clean, fjord water on Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar Tesla pay package—and it’s not backing down.

Ahead of Tesla’s annual shareholder vote this week, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which controls 1.14% of Tesla and a staggering chunk of the global stock market, announced it has voted against the massive stock award that Musk’s board is pushing through. That’s not just a financial decision. It’s a political one.

NBIM is no anonymous investor. It’s the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. It’s long-term, it’s patient, and it has a history of calling out what it sees as bloated CEO compensation—Musk included.

“We appreciate the significant value created under Musk’s visionary role,” NBIM said in a carefully worded statement. But the fund raised red flags about the sheer size of the award, how it could dilute other shareholders, and what happens to Tesla if Musk bolts.

Yes, that’s a thing. Because Musk has made it clear: if this pay package doesn’t pass, he might walk. He said as much on X, warning shareholders that no other CEO could possibly do what he does for Tesla—and that if they don’t like his deal, they can start thinking about Plan B.

A $1 trillion "or else"

The Tesla board wants shareholders to greenlight a plan that could hand Musk nearly $1 trillion in stock if the company hits aggressive performance targets over the next decade. That’s roughly equivalent to the GDP of the Netherlands.

Supporters argue Musk built Tesla into the most valuable car company on the planet, and that his compensation should reflect that. But critics (including NBIM, Glass Lewis, ISS, and the Take Back Tesla campaign) see a board too cosy with its CEO and a deal structured more like a cult loyalty test than a rational reward.

And Musk’s response? He called Glass Lewis and ISS “corporate terrorists.” Subtle.

Not the first time

This isn’t NBIM’s first standoff with Musk. Last year, the fund voted against reinstating Musk’s $56 billion pay plan—another record-breaking deal that got shot down by a U.S. judge before being revived by Tesla shareholders.

That dust-up led to leaked texts between Musk and NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen, in which Musk declined a dinner invite in Oslo and added a note that sounded less like corporate diplomacy and more like a high school breakup. “Friends are as friends do,” he wrote, apparently holding a grudge.

The bigger picture

This vote isn’t just about Musk’s bank account or Tesla’s stock. It’s about how much power any one CEO should have, especially one who’s already the richest person on Earth (Forbes puts him at $504 billion).

NBIM’s opposition may not sink the proposal—Tesla shareholders approved a similar package before—but it sends a clear signal: not everyone’s buying what Musk is selling. Or rather, they’re not buying it again, for more money, with even more strings attached.

And if the vote doesn’t go his way, Musk says he’s out. Which raises the question Tesla investors now have to answer: is this a company with a vision, or just one man’s will, held together by stock options and tweets?