Elon Musk says ‘ESG is the devil’ with tobacco firms trouncing Tesla in social-responsibility ratings

[TAG0][TAG1]

• Elon Musk called Wednesday's framework for evaluating companies' social and sustainable standards "the Devil".
• The billionaire boss of tech highlighted a study that showed tobacco stocks scored higher than Tesla on ESG ratings.
• ESG metrics are used to score publically listed companies on the basis of environmental, social and governance factors.

Elon Musk has criticized the framework used to evaluate companies' environmental standards and social practices. He also pointed out that electric vehicle maker Tesla tends to get higher ESG scores than tobacco firms.

Tesla and SpaceX Chief Aaron Sibarium responded to an article written by Washington Free Beacon journalist Aaron Sibarium on Twitter with "Why ESG the devil".

ESG is an assessment tool that measures business practices in terms of sustainability and ethical issues. ESG ratings are increasingly used by financial market participants to guide socially responsible investments, rather than just buying assets that they believe will provide the best returns.

Research firms such as S&P Global or Morningstar determine the scale of ratings, which is usually a 1 to 100 rating.

Critics of the framework claim that it encourages "greenwashing" and does not properly rate companies according to their social contributions.

Sibarium tweeted on Tuesday that "Tobacco companies are crushing Tesla when it comes to ESG ratings, from S&P Global and the London Stock Exchange."

How can cigarettes, which kill more than 8 million people a year be considered a better investment than electric vehicles? He added.

Sibarium's report pointed out that S&P Global’s latest ESG ranking gave EV maker Tesla a 37 – and tobacco giant Philip Morris a 84.

The London Stock Exchange awarded British American Tobacco a ESG rating score of 94 and Tesla an average 65.

Read More: Elon Musk makes fun of Bill Miller, an elite investor who shorted Tesla stock at a level less than half the current value

—————————————————————————————————————————————
By: gglover@insider.com (George Glover)
Title: Elon Musk says ‘ESG is the devil’ with tobacco firms trouncing Tesla in social-responsibility ratings
Sourced From: markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-tesla-stock-price-esg-tobacco-green-investing-twitter-2023-6
Published Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2023 13:27:31 +0000

Related posts:

Four Tesla passengers survived a 250-foot fall from Devil’s Slide. Elon Musk’s argument about Tesla stock falling because the Fed has raised interest rates is flawed. Elon Musk states that these shareholder advisors effectively control the stock markets and hold too much power One investor claims that Elon M Musk’s reign of Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX CEO could be “entering the final game”