Tuesday, October 21, 2025-Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has sharply criticized major proxy advisory firms for opposing Elon Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package at Tesla, calling their stance “sad, if not damning.”
The firms, including Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, had urged investors to reject the compensation plan, citing excessive valuation and weak corporate governance.
Wood defended Musk, arguing that his leadership was the driving force behind Tesla’s exponential growth and that his compensation should reflect the scale of his achievements.
She added that traditional metrics used by proxy advisors fail to capture the “transformational impact” of innovators like Musk. Her comments came during a CNBC interview where she accused such firms of stifling innovation through outdated evaluation models.
The debate has reignited tensions between Tesla’s most loyal shareholders and critics who view the pay package as corporate excess. As the shareholder vote nears, investors remain divided between rewarding Musk’s vision and curbing what some see as unchecked executive power in one of the world’s most influential companies.
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