One of Tesla's largest shareholders is urging Elon Musk to simmer down and focus after a tumultuous few weeks

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One of Tesla's largest shareholders is urging Elon Musk to simmer down and focus after a tumultuous few weeks

elon musk

Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

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  • Baillie Gifford, Tesla's fourth-largest shareholder, says it wants Elon Musk to put away the distractions and focus.
  • James Anderson, a partner and portfolio manager at the asset management firm, pointed to the turmoil surrounding the Tesla CEO, including his public rants in recent weeks. Musk has targeted reporters and news outlets over troubling news about Tesla Model 3 production and internal struggles at the company. Those rants have prompted some fallout.
  • Anderson says the Baillie Gifford firm still supports Musk, "but would like peace and execution at this stage," Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
  • Tesla has either missed or postponed Model 3 production goals since the company started building its newest car in late 2017.

One of Tesla's most influential shareholders is giving Elon Musk an earful about the turmoil surrounding him and the electric automaker in recent weeks.

James Anderson, partner and portfolio manager at the asset management firm, Baillie Gifford, pointed to the turmoil surrounding Musk - including the CEO's recent public rants.

Musk has lashed out at reporters and news outlets over troubling news about Tesla Model 3 production and internal struggles at the company. Those rants have prompted some fallout, causing both Musk's fans and his critics to get overheated.

Anderson offered some muted criticism of Musk in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday: "We are very supportive, but we would like peace and execution at this stage," Anderson said. "It would be good to just concentrate on the core task."

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Baillie Gifford held 12.8 million shares of Tesla at the end of Q1, which would be worth a little more than $4 billion at Wednesday's $318.96-per-share closing price.

The hand-wringing comes as the saga around Tesla Model 3 production wears on. Tesla has either missed or delayed production goals since the company started building its newest car in late 2017.

Despite this, Musk has split his time between his multiple other business ventures - and the occasional foray into entirely new interests, like his visit to Thailand during a dramatic rescue mission this week and, more recently, his focus on the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, which has been ongoing since 2015.

Get the latest Tesla stock price here.

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