BlackRock voted to remove Musk as Tesla chair

BlackRock-controlled funds voted in favor of replacing Tesla chief Elon Musk with an independent chairman – a proposal that was ultimately defeated.

In securities filings, first reported by Reuters, it was revealed that BlackRock backed a proposal to split the roles of chairman and CEO – calling for the former to be assumed by an independent director.

The proposal was voted down in June. Fewer than 17 million shares voted in favor, compared to 86 million that voted against, according to Tesla.

BlackRock funds control about 6.5 million Tesla shares, Reuters reported, making them a top 10 shareholder.

The measure would not have affected Musk’s day-to-day role as chief executive of the company.

BlackRock declined to comment when contacted by FOX Business.

The vote came after the CEO was under pressure for production capacity and spending issues.

In the months since, Musk has come under increased scrutiny for a variety of different issues: Earlier this month he tweeted that he was considering taking the company private, a venture for which he claimed funding had already been secured.

The news sent shares soaring.

In a blog post days later he revealed that no concrete funding deal had been struck, raising questions about whether he violated securities law by misleading investors.

Last week, Musk said he had decided to keep Tesla public, a decision that is unlikely to save him and the company from SEC scrutiny.

Musk gave a detailed look into his personal well-being during an interview with The New York Times earlier this month, where he said he had the most “difficult and painful year of his career.”

He also said that the company is not currently looking to hire a chief operating officer to help assume some of his managerial responsibilities.

Shares have fallen more than 5 percent over the past five days and are down more than 2 percent so far this year.