Votes on three of the 13 proposals did not follow the board’s recommendations, according to preliminary data presented at the annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. After board opposition, shareholders approved an advisory proposal that would increase investors’ ability to appoint directors. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Two board proposals — reducing director terms to two years and eliminating supermajority requirements — failed to receive the necessary supermajorities to pass. Dressed in black, CEO Elon Musk heavily influenced the vote and addressed an enthusiastic crowd after the vote. He owns 15.6 percent of Tesla, according to Refinitiv data, after selling millions of shares last year. read more Investors approved the stock split three-for-one. Although a split does not affect a company’s fundamentals, it could increase the stock price by making it easier for investors to own the stock. The failed shareholder proposals included arguing in favor of endorsing workers’ right to form a union, requiring the company to report on its efforts to prevent racial discrimination and sexual harassment annually, and reporting on the water hazard. A proposal asking directors to allow large and long-term shareholders or groups with at least 3% of the shares to appoint directors overcame objections from the board. The board had previously said a proposal like this could create opportunities for special interests to distort Tesla’s plans. Musk said the company aims to reach a production rate of 2 million vehicles per year by the end of 2022 and will continue to build factories. Tesla has factories in California and Shanghai and is adding two more in Austin, Texas and Berlin. Musk said Tesla may be able to announce an additional factory this year and expects to eventually have 10-12 so-called gigafactories. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru. additional reporting by Peter Henderson in Oakland and Kevin Krolicki in Detroit; Edited by Anil D’Silva Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
