Elon Musk-led electric car manufacturer Tesla lost its place this month on the S&P 500 index dedicated to companies excelling at environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Though there were 34 other companies also removed from the index following its annual reshuffle, the company stands out for its focus on environmentally conscious transportation.
In a blog post published May 17, S&P Dow Jones Indices’ head of ESG indices for North America Margaret Dorn explained that, although Tesla’s ESG score has remained relatively “stable” year-on-year, it had been outflanked by global industry peers. The index provider cited several contributing factors to this change, including alleged incidents of racial discrimination at one of the company’s factories that resulted in the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing bringing a lawsuit against Tesla. The company said in a February 2022 statement that it strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and called the lawsuit “unfair and counterproductive, especially because the allegations focus on events from years ago.”
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla, tweeted his displeasure with the index reshuffle, claiming that “@SPGlobalRatings has lost their integrity [sic]”. The world’s richest man complained that oil giant Exxon Mobil—which has been mired in…
