S&P Dow Jones Indices removed Tesla Inc, the electric carmaker company, from its S&P 500 ESG Index. It cited issues such as racial discrimination claims against the firm and its handling of an investigation by the government following crashes linked to its autopilot vehicles.

The changes, effective May 2, were described in a May 17 blog post sent by a spokesman for the index provider on Wednesday.

Elon Musk later took to Twitter to call ESG a "scam" and said the international oil and gas company Exxon was rated top 10 best in the world for environment, social and governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn't make it to the list.

"Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list! ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors," he tweeted.

Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list!

ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022

He replied to the tweet tagging S&P Global Ratings' official handle and said it has "lost their integrity".

He then put out a tweet saying, "Political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months."

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With inputs from Reuters

First Published:May 18, 2022 9:59 PM IST