Tesla ( (TSLA) – Get the Tesla Inc report) CEO Elon Musk is extremely unhappy that the EV company was dropped from the S&P 500 ESG index on Wednesday, expressing his concern on Twitter.
The electric automaker was removed from the ESG index by the S&P Dow Jones Index due to ongoing issues of racial discrimination claims from Tesla workers and how it dealt with a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation, several of which are related. . Its autopilot vehicles.
The changes preceded: they take effect on May 2, and are argued in the May 17 S&P Dow Jones Index blog post. This is the fourth annual balance of the index company.
“Tesla was ineligible for index inclusion due to its low S&P DJI ESG score.3 Which is below 25% of its global GICS3 Industry Group colleagues, “wrote Margaret Dorn, Senior Director, ESG Index, head of the North American S&P Dow Jones Index.
Other companies including Berkshire Hathaway ( (BRKA) – Get the report in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class), Johnson & Johnson ( (JNJ) – Get the Johnson & Johnson report) And meta ( (FB) – Meta Platforms Inc. Get a Class A report) And was omitted and “again met the chopping block of the index method,” he wrote.
Although Tesla has a “self-proclaimed mission” to accelerate the transformation of the world into sustainable energy, the company was dropped because its ESG score was lower than that of other auto companies, Dorn wrote.
Tesla has failed two main criteria
A number of factors contributed to Tesla’s low ESG scores, including “Tesla’s (lack of) low-carbon strategy and lowering of standard level scores related to the Code of Business Conduct”, he wrote.
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Additional analysis further found that “two separate incidents centered on claims of racial discrimination and poor working conditions at the Tesla Fremont factory, as well as multiple deaths and injuries after its attachment to the autopilot vehicle were conducted by the NHTSA investigation,” Dorn wrote.
These two events have had a negative impact on the company’s S&P DJI ESG score and its overall score.
“While Tesla may have played a role in removing fuel-powered vehicles off the road, it lagged behind its peers when testing through a wide ESG lens,” he wrote.
Musk responded on Twitter that Tesla was doing the opposite and helping the environment.
He compared Tesla to the oil producer Action (XOM) and said he believed the ESG was a “scam” because of “social justice fighters”.
Musk also blamed S&P global ratings, saying the ESG was a “scam” although the investment industry adopted the ESG metrics several years ago because investors wanted lower carbon targets, greater diversification of the workforce and improvements in corporate governance.
The millionaire regularly expressed his displeasure on Twitter (TWTR) – Twitter, Inc. Get the report, He wanted to acquire a company with an $ 44 billion offer to privatize the social media company in April. He recently challenged Twitter’s board and management, saying on May 17 that he wanted the microblogging website to verify the number of spam accounts and that the takeover deal was no longer on the table.
“My offer was based on the accuracy of Twitter’s SEC filing. Yesterday, the CEO of Twitter publicly refused to show <5% proof. The deal cannot proceed unless he does," Musk said.
Twitter’s board has taken up the challenge, saying it would “close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement.”