The U.S.’s top three passive investing funds own more of Tesla than its creator, Elon Musk, according to the Financial Times.
Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street have a combined 13.58% stake in the electric vehicle manufacturer while Musk, who has been dumping shares to finance his $44 billion Twitter acquisition, holds 13% of stock, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Vanguard leads the “Big Three” trio with 6.85%, followed by BlackRock with 3.6%, and State Street with 3.13%, the Financial Times reported.
In fewer than 14 months, Musk unloaded $40 billion worth of stock, helping to precipitate a drop in Tesla’s stock price in 2022. Since January, share prices have increased 69% but are still trading far below their November 2021 peak.
The passively managed funds that comprise most of the “Big Three” holdings have a portfolio of shares that approximates a stock index, such as the S&P 500. The funds’ goal is to match the market rather than beat it.
