Sweden’s largest pension fund, AP7, announced this week that it has fully divested from Tesla, citing confirmed violations of labor rights in the United States. AP7 disclosed that it sold its entire stake in Tesla’s stock—valued at approximately 13 billion Swedish crowns (around $1.36 billion)—in late May, after years of failed engagement.
The divested stake represented about 1% of AP7’s Equity Fund, one of the major pillars of the country’s public pension system. The fund’s overall assets totaled around 1.18 trillion crowns at the end of May, according to its official reports.
In publicly available statements, AP7 stated that it had “blacklisted” Tesla following verified cases of violations concerning union and labor rights at American facilities. Despite extensive dialogue and coordinated shareholder proposals, the fund concluded that Tesla had not meaningfully addressed the issues. Consequently, AP7 decided that divestment was necessary to uphold its ethical investment standards.
AP7’s action comes amid rising scrutiny from Scandinavian investors over Tesla’s labor practices. Earlier this year, Swedish insurer Folksam also exited its Tesla position—selling a stake worth $160 million—citing similar workers’ rights concerns.
While Tesla has faced multiple labor-related lawsuits, the fund’s decision was based specifically on the adequacy of workers’ rights protections and responses to unionization efforts. AP7 emphasized that further engagement had failed to yield substantive change, leaving divestment as its chosen recourse.
