Tesla has appointed Hiromichi (Hiro) Mizuno, a former director of the Japanese government’s Pension Investment Fund, to the board.

Today, Tesla announced that its board has authorized the number of directors on the board to increase from nine to 10 in order to appoint Mizuno.

Mizuno was until last month executive managing director and chief investment officer of the Japanese government’s pension investment fund.

He was recently praised by Tesla CEO Elon Musk when he announced the fund would stop lending money to short sellers.

Tesla shares have often been the most bet by short sellers on the NASDAQ.

The longtime financial industry expert is now a member of Tesla’s board of directors’ audit committee.

In recent years, Tesla has taken heat for its board of directors not being independent enough from Musk and his family.

A year ago, Tesla announced that four board members were leaving and they made efforts to add more independent members to the board, including billionaire Larry Ellison.

Musk also had to step down from his role as chairman of the board.

Here is Tesla’s press release in full:

We are delighted to welcome Hiromichi (Hiro) Mizuno to Tesla’s Board of Directors and Audit Committee, effective April 23, 2020.

Hiro’s entire career has been in finance and investment, spanning Tokyo, New York, London, Hong Kong and Silicon Valley. Most recently, Hiro served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund, which is the largest pension fund in the world with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management. While there, Hiro emphasized the importance of environmental considerations in portfolio management and became a global thought leader in sustainable and responsible investing. He also challenged many established market practices, including short selling, to promote long-term value creation by companies.

In addition to his understanding of financial markets and economics, Hiro brings expertise in international politics to Tesla’s board of directors, as he is a member of numerous corporate and government advisory boards, including the board of directors. of the PRI, an investor initiative to promote responsible investment in partnership with the United Nations, the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council and the Japanese government’s Strategic Fund Integrated Advisory Board.

We are thrilled to have Hiro join our mission to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy.

Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.