(March 14): Danish pension fund AkademikerPension is blacklisting Tesla Inc, citing the company’s record on workers’ rights, as well as the growing risks posed by the actions of Elon Musk.

“Patience has a way of running out at some point,” AkademikerPension chief executive officer Jens Munch Holst said on Friday. “We’ve now reached that point when it comes to Tesla.”

The fund, which oversees more than US$20 billion (RM88.66 billion) of assets, is selling the remaining 200 Tesla shares it still holds, and placing the company on its exclusion list, meaning neither it nor its external managers can buy Tesla shares, according to an emailed statement. AkademikerPension’s Tesla stake was worth 300 million kroner (RM193.69 million) at its peak, a spokesperson for the fund said.

Tesla’s sales have plummeted in Europe amid signs that consumers in the region are balking at efforts by Musk, the company’s CEO, to interfere in their elections by praising far-right candidates. Against that backdrop, the company’s shares have plunged about 50% since a high reached after the US election, wiping more than US$750 billion off Tesla’s market value.

Holst, who recently pulled a mandate worth 3.3 billion kroner from State Street Global Advisors due to concerns about its faltering climate commitments, said Tesla has long been a leader in the green transition. But despite that track record, “it’s hard to stay invested” in the company, given the “list of problems for which there’s no prospect of improvement,” he said.

AkademikerPension’s decision rests on three factors: Tesla’s years-long efforts to fight workers’ rights, its governance issues and Musk’s “stepping into American and European politics” and “spreading misinformation,” Holst said. The latter has created “considerable risks to returns,” he said.

“In short, it’s our view that Elon Musk is in the process of destroying Tesla’s brand and value,” Holst said.

Uploaded by Felyx Teoh