Ross Gerber, the chief investment officer at Gerber Kawasaki, has indicated he plans to nominate himself to the Tesla board of directors.
The self-confessed fan of Elon Musk ran a Twitter poll on January 7 that received nearly 25,000 votes – more than 53% of them urging him to run for the board. The following day, he seemed to confirm that he would nominate himself, writing “It’s time for change with the Tesla [board of directors]. They could have done a much better job protecting shareholders…”
In an interview with Marketwatch, Gerber argued that Elon Musk, Tesla’s “technoking,” set a bad example for investors recently when he sold the car manufacturer’s stock at $200 to fund his investment in Twitter. He went on to say that he could put the company’s current woes behind it by June if given Musk’s ear.
A recent profile of Tesla on Insightia’s Vulnerability module argued that the company looks “increasingly vulnerable” thanks to its falling share price, governance deficiences, and high investor opposition. “Yet, victory in a proxy fight would likely come down to which side could rally support from retail investors, who hold over 42% of shares,” the analysis concluded.
Gerber is the second unlikely activist in recent weeks to be enticed by the new universal proxy card rules, after Dorothy Carvello nominated herself to the board of Warner Music Group. However, that campaign was reportedly ended when the company determined that Carvello owned the shares in “street name” and not in her own personal account.
It is not currently known what portion of Tesla’s stock Geber owns or has voting power over.
Tesla’s nomination deadline closes in February, so Gerber could have some time to wait before he gets his audience with the technoking.