New Jersey's public worker pension system has more than $210 million invested in Tesla stock, an asset that has lost over 36 percent of its value in the last three months.

Elon Musk is actively attacking the public sector, including firing workers who keep our national parks clean, make air travel safe, and help low-income families afford their utility bills.

While Musk pursues anti-worker actions on behalf of the Trump Administration, Tesla’s first-quarter car sales are at a three-year low, falling 13% from the fourth quarter of 2024. This exposes the retirement funds of public workers and their families to unacceptable risk.

Sign this petition to urge the New Jersey State Investment Council to divest public worker pension funds from Tesla.

Petition text reads:

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to strongly urge the immediate divestment of all New Jersey public pension fund holdings in Tesla, Inc. This decision is both a financial necessity and a moral imperative. With more than $210 million currently invested in Tesla stock — an asset that has lost over 25% of its value since January — our public pension is exposed to unacceptable risk. Moreover, deeper concern lies in what this investment enables.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Co-President, is actively attacking the public sector. Through his control of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an illegal effort aimed at privatizing the government, over 121,000 federal workers have already been laid off, and plans are underway to eliminate hundreds of thousands more. In the largest attack against workers to date, the Trump Administration signed a sweeping executive order unlawfully stripping hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their collective bargaining rights. These hard-working individuals keep our nation safe, from air traffic controllers to food inspectors, and play a vital role in our economy. Their loss reverberates all the way down to the state and local levels.

Investing in Tesla doesn’t just pad Elon Musk’s wallet — it gives him the financial leverage to borrow against Tesla stock and buy up platforms and companies he uses to attack working people. This is how billionaires like Musk operate: they extract value from publicly funded institutions and then weaponize their wealth to undermine them. New Jersey’s public servants should not see their retirement funds used as collateral for Elon Musk’s next hostile takeover or to bankroll a vision of the future where public service is gutted and privatized.

Musk has built his fortune off government funding through tax breaks, subsidies, and federal contracts, only to turn around and treat public institutions as bloated and disposable. In backing Tesla, we are investing in a vision that devalues public service and treats workers as collateral damage.

Tesla’s stock has taken a severe downturn. Forbes reported that Tesla’s stock has plummeted 50% since December. Tesla’s first-quarter car sales are at a three-year low, falling 13% from the fourth quarter of 2024. State pension systems like CalPERS, the nation’s largest pension system, have already taken steps to reduce their shares in Tesla. New York state lawmakers have also called for the state to divest the New York State Common Retirement Fund from the company.

This is about protecting workers’ hard-earned retirements, setting a precedent that New Jersey will not invest in those who profit from attacking our public workforce and choosing beneficiaries' retirement funds over speculation.

The consequences are real for New Jersey. When federal jobs are cut, state-level services are strained. When public programs are privatized, our communities — especially working-class and vulnerable residents — pay the price. And when the pension fund bleeds from risky investments like Tesla, retirees suffer.

We urge you to immediately divest all holdings in Tesla Inc. from New Jersey’s pension portfolio.

Public money should be used to protect and empower public workers, not bankroll those seeking to dismantle their future. New Jersey must take action now.

Divest from Tesla. Stand with workers. Thank you for your consideration.