Despite owning a stake worth $139 billion, Elon Musk admits he is still worried about being ousted from Tesla by shareholders. The billionaire has said he wants to increase his voting power to 25% – enough to avoid being left out, but not so much that he loses the ability to be “fired” if he… “goes crazy”.

Billionaire Elon Musk. Getty Images
Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla and the man who always stands on the line between genius and eccentricity – just made a remarkable statement at the second quarter 2025 shareholder meeting: he is worried that he “could be forced out of the company he built by shareholders”.

Musk currently holds only 13% of Tesla shares, equivalent to about 139 billion USD, but believes that is not enough to ensure a leadership position, especially when Tesla is increasingly expanding into the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics – where he has high expectations.

“I would not be comfortable growing Tesla into a leading AI and robotics company without having ~25% of the voting rights,” Musk wrote on X in 2024 — and now reiterated it during a July 23 financial analyst call.

“I don’t want to be in a situation where I have so little control that I can be easily removed by shareholder lobbying. That’s a big concern and I hope it will be addressed at the upcoming AGM,” Musk said.

However, in a notable turn of events, Musk admitted that he should not have so much power that he cannot be fired.

“I don’t think I should have so much control that the board can’t fire me if I… go crazy. That’s not right either,” Musk said bluntly on the call.

AI dream and ambition to “drive Tesla”

Musk’s desire to increase his voting power to 25% is not simply a matter of personal power. According to him, it is a condition for him to fully develop AI products, robots, and driverless cars within Tesla. Without adequate control, Musk has threatened to “shift” and develop these technologies outside Tesla.

“If I don’t have enough voting power to ensure I have influence, I’ll take product development elsewhere. People don’t understand that,” Musk once wrote on X.

Tesla faces its toughest financial quarter in more than a decade

The statement comes as Tesla has just experienced a turbulent second quarter of 2025, with revenue falling 12% and profits plunging 16%. This is the sharpest decline in more than 10 years, amid a slowing global electric vehicle market, the end of US tax incentives, and increasingly fierce competition.

Musk remains “optimistic about the long-term outlook,” betting on projects like the Optimus humanoid robot, low-cost cars and driverless robotaxi — but he warned investors that “Tesla could have some tough quarters ahead.”

What will Tesla’s board do?

Now the question is: Will Tesla agree to give Musk more power? And if so, what mechanisms will the board build to ensure the influence of this “unruly genius” CEO while maintaining the principles of control and transparency?

For Elon Musk, everything has always been a delicate balancing act between power, passion and… uncertainty. But this time, he made no secret of it: either take more control, or go.