Tim Walz has called himself a “knucklehead” and a “smartass” for saying stupid stuff. But some are wondering if his knack for idiotic, foot-in-mouth comments is also a violation of Minnesota state law, On The Money has learned.
At issue: Whether the former loose cannon Dem VP candidate and current Minnesota governor really stepped in it when he began attacking Elon Musk and Musk’s EV company Tesla. Walz reveled in the fact that shares of the EV maker have been declining amid the controversy over DOGE, Tesla-related vandalism and investor concern Musk is spending too much time in Trump’s White House.
But the Minnesota pension fund owns shares of Tesla, and maybe more perilous for Walz, he’s an officer of the state pension system, a so-called “fiduciary.”
Walz, of course, is known for his goofy antics, and in keeping with form, he headlined a weird rally last week in Wisconsin presumably to energize the Democratic Party base. But instead of attacking Donald Trump, Walz awkwardly pranced around the stage, hollering epithets at Musk.
Yes, Musk is the bane of the loony left these days for being a progressive apostate, culling stuff like taxpayer funded transgender dance festivals in Bangladesh from the federal budget. For those mortal sins, not only did Walz call Musk a “dips-it” (and some other choice words), but he also took some inappropriate shots at his EV company.
“Some of you know this. On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping,” Walz bellowed. “And if you own one, we’re not blaming you. You can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off,” he added, gesturing something weird with his hands.
Very inappropriate since Musk and Tesla do employ American workers, and his pensioners own the stock. The Minnesota state’s pension fund owns, according to its last report, 1.6 million shares of the EV company in its retirement portfolio and a little more than 200,000 shares in another investment vehicle. The pension fund says its records are dated as of December 2024, though it’s a good chance the stock is still being held given Tesla’s presence within the S&P 500.
But here’s where those remarks could be legally dicey. Walz as governor is chairman of the pension system, which according to its website has the “primary responsibility…to monitor and evaluate the investment programs as a fiduciary with the goal of making sound investment decisions.”
The word fiduciary is key, corporate lawyers and investors told On The Money. A “fiduciary” is a guardian of the pension money for state workers. Attempting to drive down the share price of a holding is a definite no-no, a big one at that. If the pension fund does indeed still own Tesla stock, and if Walz’s name were say Trump, that might lead to an investigation by any number of ambitious, albeit politically motivated opposition state and local prosecutors for an alleged “breach” of his fiduciary duties.
Neither Walz nor the pension fund returned calls for comment.
Investopedia defines the situation as follows: “Case law indicates that breaches of fiduciary duty most often occur when a binding fiduciary relationship is in effect and actions are taken which violate or are counterproductive to the interests of a specific beneficiary. The inappropriate actions are typically alleged to have benefitted the fiduciary’s interests or the interests of a third party rather than a principal’s or beneficiary’s interests.”
Interesting, and it’s why I turned for the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, for a legal read. Ellison, you might recall, gained national fame for prosecuting the police officers involved in the 2020 death of George Floyd. He also may have a special interest in whether Walz stepped out of line since he’s not just the state AG — (aka the state’s chief prosecutor in charge of upholding state laws), but he’s also on the state pension board with the governor.
So far, I haven’t heard back.
Walz has since tried to walk back his anti-Tesla remarks, hence his recent “smartass” self-critique (maybe he had a chat with Ellison). Others have called him a moron for dissing a stock that is held for the retirement of state workers.
Kevin O’Leary, the famed investor from “Shark Tank” and no stranger to the world of fiduciary responsibility, described it most elegantly this way: “I believe he wasn’t thinking when he said that stuff, but it was a blatant disregard of fiduciary responsibility.”
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