Tesla founder Elon Musk turned down a dinner invite from the boss of Norway’s largest sovereign wealth fund after the agency voted in opposition to his large pay package deal — telling the snubbed Scandinavian that “friends are as friends do.”
Nicolai Tangen — the CEO of the $1.7 trillion wealth fund Norges Financial institution Funding Administration — had invited the tech titan to affix him for dinner at his house in Oslo in October.
Months earlier, Norges, one in all Tesla’s 10 largest buyers, had struck down a $56 billion pay deal for Musk that might now be valued at round $100 billion after Tesla’s inventory soared final 12 months.
Musk was fast to notice his disappointment with Tangen’s resolution.
“When I ask you for a favor which I very rarely do, and you decline, then you should not ask me for one until you’ve done something above nothing to make amends,” Musk wrote through textual content, in accordance with messages the agency offered to Enterprise Insider.
“Friends are as friends do.”
Tangen had hoped Musk would be a part of executives from Ferrari, Nestlé, Adidas, DoorDash and Novo Nordisk on the dinner forward of the fund’s annual buyers convention in April.
Norges owned a 0.95% stake value $6 billion within the carmaker as of June, in accordance with the fund’s newest obtainable knowledge.
Tangen stated he understood and wished Musk luck, including that they have been cheering him on as a shareholder.
The textual content messages have been first printed by E24, a Norwegian newspaper, after the agency launched them underneath Norway’s expansive freedom of knowledge legal guidelines.
A number of days after rejecting the dinner invite, Musk requested Tangen whether or not he had given their messages to the media.
Musk forwarded him a textual content change with one other unnamed one who claimed Tangen leaked the correspondence to “promote himself” on account of “political ambitions.”
Tangen advised Musk that every part he sends and receives is public data underneath Norway’s transparency legal guidelines.
The fund supervisor additionally stated Musk’s “personal comments” weren’t launched, solely his remarks about not attending the convention.
“This country is obsessed about you, but this is not reflecting badly on you. Still, sorry for any inconvenience,” Tangen stated.
A consultant for Musk didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A Delaware Choose Kathleen McCormick rejected Musk’s $56 billion compensation deal early final 12 months, and once more in December.
NBIM, although, voted in opposition to the pay package deal, citing issues “about the total size of the award, the structure given performance triggers, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk.”
Greater than 70% of Tesla shareholders voted in favor of the pay deal final June throughout Tesla’s annual buyers assembly.
Musk has slammed McCormick’s ruling as “totally crazy” and known as her an “activist posing as a judge.”
