Despite the acrimonious relationship between state authorities in Michigan and Tesla Motors, the Michigan State Department of Treasury apparently doesn’t have any qualms about investing into the company. Recent reports have revealed that the state’s Department of Treasury actually bought around $48 million worth of Tesla stock during the second quarter for the state’s retirement funds.
What that means is that the state increased its stake in Tesla around 224% during the second quarter. The stake held by Michigan’s Department of Treasury now totals ~$72 million. Pretty amusing when you consider that Tesla isn’t even legally allowed to operate showrooms in the state. I guess that means that, despite the hostility to the pioneering electric car manufacturer, some of the people in charge in Michigan expect Tesla to do quite well over the coming years. How else could the recent decision be interpreted?
Detroit News quotes in its coverage a treasury spokesperson who stated that all investment decisions were “made by a team of portfolio managers that are independent of state regulatory agencies.” That throws a bit of cold water on the speculations above, but it’s still a strange situation.
It should be noted here that Tesla’s stock is only 0.12% of the state’s $60 billion portfolio. That said, the stake in Tesla is more double the combined stakes in Ford ($17 million) and GM ($13.7 million).
Here’s a bit of further background information from that coverage: “The Treasury department’s Bureau of Investments oversees investment of more than $60 billion in the State of Michigan Retirement Systems. That includes four systems: the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System, Michigan State Employees’ Retirement System, Michigan State Police Retirement System and Michigan Judges Retirement System.”
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