DIGGING DEEPER: Walz’s Tesla comment goes viral as Minnesota owns 1.8 million shares of company
MINNESOTA (KTTC) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (DFL) comment about Tesla’s stock prices at a town hall in Eau Claire, Wisconsin have gone viral after he tweeted out a video commenting on the topic.
Walz said, “I know 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!”
That clip has KTTC Digging Deeper into new details surrounding Tesla’s stock.
The State of Minnesota owns more than 1.8 million shares of Tesla stock, according to the Public Markets Asset Listing. That report is an “unaudited list of domestic and international equities, fixed income, and cash equivalent securities owned by the SBI in the retirement, non-retirement, and State Cash accounts.”
Page 46 of the report shows Minnesota has 1.6 million shares of Tesla in its retirement fund while it has 211,000 shares in its non-retirement fund on page 272. The market value of those shares combined is more than $360 million.
Those shares are owned and managed by the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI), a board which Walz is the chair of.
The board is comprised of four members: Board Chair Walz, State Auditor Julie Blaha (DFL), Secretary of State Steve Simon (DFL) and Attorney General Keith Ellison (DFL).
According to it’s website, the SBI “invests the assets of state and local employee benefit plans, other public retirement savings plans, tax advantaged savings plans, and non-retirement assets.”
The site goes on to say about the board, “The primary responsibility of the board is to monitor and evaluate the investment programs as a fiduciary with the goal of making sound investment decisions.”
The SBI was established in 1885 into the Minnesota Constitution.
KTTC reached out to both the DFL and Gov. Walz’s office seeking comment about the viral clip and Minnesota owning Tesla shares, but did not hear back.
As for Walz, his tour of town halls in Republican districts continues Saturday in Rochester.
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