A member of Tesla’s board of directors announced their resignation from a committee position in March and claimed to have discussed selling a house to CEO Elon Musk, according to reports this week. The board member, Gregor Collienne Gebbia, expressed concerns that his friendship with Musk could be exploited to question the committee’s autonomy. Gebbia, who owns the start-up Samara, which builds small pre-fab homes, had apparently talked about constructing one for Musk.
His departure from the committee coincided with an expansion of upcoming proposals from the re-incorporation measure to include the vote on Musk’s compensation plan, as revealed in a regulatory filing. Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, former Chief of Human Resources at Walgreens Boots Alliance, also joined the special committee, according to the filing. In his statement, Gebbia mentioned that he stepped down from the committee “out of an abundance of caution,” as the “potential business transaction” was “currently on hold” at the time of the filing.
He emphasized that he did not want his connection with Musk to be used against the committee and decided to disclose the situation to avoid any unfair attacks on the committee’s independence. The situation raises questions about the delicate balance between personal relationships and professional responsibilities within corporate governance, especially in the context of potential business dealings involving high-profile individuals.