Troubles beginning to grow? S&P 500 ESG Index ditches Tesla, invokes CEO Elon Musk’s harsh reaction

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s problems are far from over. After his deal to takeover Twitter seems to have gone ‘on hold’, S&P Dow Jones Indices has omitted the electric carmaker, Tesla Inc, from its S&P 500 ESG Index, media reports said. The action seems to have been taken over several issues, such as crashes linked to autopilot vehicles, racial discrimination claims, etc. As the S&P 500 ESG Index is widely-followed, the move has prompted harsh replies in the form of tweets from billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday.  

Also Read: Elon Musk did not ask anything about business while signing, says Twitter over ‘on hold’ deal

In a tweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, “Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list! ESG is a scam. It has been weaponised by phony social justice warriors.”  

Watch: Will Elon Musk walk away from the Twitter deal?

While hailing the move, Margaret Dorn, who is head of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Indices for North America at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), said in an interview with a media outlet that the changes were made as Tesla has also not published details relating to its low carbon strategy or business conduct codes.

“You can’t just take a company’s mission statement at face value, you have to look at their practices across all the key dimensions,” Dorn said.  

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(With inputs from agencies)