Azoria Partners, an American investment company, announced on Saturday that the scheduled launch of the “Azoria Tesla Convex Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)” next week will be postponed. This decision comes in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s announcement of forming a national political party.
Elon Musk recently conducted a poll on his social media platform X and after the results were out, he declared, “Today, the American Party is officially established, aiming to restore freedom to the people.” This move comes as former President Trump signed the “Big and Beautiful” tax and spending bill on Friday, a bill that Musk had openly opposed.
However, Musk’s political involvement has raised concerns among the market and investors, ultimately leading to Azoria’s decision to delay the fund’s launch.
James Fishback, CEO and founder of Azoria, took to X multiple times to criticize Musk’s formation of a new political party and reiterate his support for President Trump. Subsequently, he announced the postponement of the Tesla ETF’s launch plan.
In a letter to Tesla’s board chair Robyn Denholm, Fishback emphasized that Musk’s political engagement may conflict with his full-time duties as Tesla’s CEO, thereby diverting focus from the company and shareholders. He wrote, “Political activities are not only detrimental to Tesla’s mission but may weaken the company’s direction.”
He further pointed out that Musk’s announcement in May to step down as head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) had briefly boosted market confidence. However, Musk’s re-involvement in political activities has shaken shareholders’ confidence in Tesla’s future.
As of now, neither Musk himself nor the official Tesla representatives have responded to the events.
James Fishback has garnered attention for staunchly advocating the “anti-woke” investment concept, emphasizing that companies should base their personnel and governance decisions on performance and capability. He has also delved into education reform, openly promoting the enhancement of debate education.
One of the company’s other funds, the “Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF,” focuses on investing in the top 500 US companies by market value but excludes those with publicly stated “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) recruitment targets, emphasizing a merit-based selection criteria core.