Tesla board chair denies reports company was looking to replace Elon Musk

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: May 01, 2025 9:45 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Tesla seat Robyn Denholm on Thursday denied a Wall Street Journal study that said board members had reached retired to enforcement hunt firms to find a replacement for CEO Elon Musk.

The Journal had reported connected Wednesday that astir a period ago, Tesla's committee members had reached retired to respective enforcement search firms to find a caller CEO, citing radical acquainted with the discussions.

Denholm called the study "absolutely false" and said connected X the EV maker's committee is "highly confident" successful Musk's quality to "continue executing connected the breathtaking maturation program ahead."

Musk said connected X the study was a "deliberately false article." Activist investors person agelong accused Tesla's committee of lacking independency and failing to rein successful Musk.

Tesla is astatine a important juncture. Musk has pivoted from his promise of making a new, affordable EV level to rolling out driverless taxis and humanoid robots, highlighting Tesla's future arsenic an AI and robotics institution alternatively than an automaker.

However, shares person been sliding for months, arsenic its EV sales person slumped successful the U.S. and Europe successful a backlash to his embrace of far-right authorities and arsenic competitors person started to take up marketplace stock with newer models.

Musk's relation successful the Trump medication overseeing efforts to chopped national jobs has resulted successful sizeable resentment in the U.S. His enactment astatine the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been one of the astir arguable aspects of the Trump presidency.

The relation besides took up overmuch of the billionaire's time. Musk said Wednesday that helium was moving connected DOGE 7 days a week during the archetypal months of the administration, astatine times sleeping successful the Lincoln Bedroom astatine Trump's invitation.

WATCH | What's happening to Tesla arsenic Elon Musk focuses connected authorities cuts: 

Musk told reporters connected Wednesday that helium would walk 1 to 2 days connected DOGE-related enactment each week going forward, and that he'd beryllium successful Washington little frequently.

Questions about Tesla brand

The governmental displacement has led to protests against Musk and the company, arsenic good arsenic vandalism astatine its showrooms and charging stations successful the U.S., Europe and Canada.

Shares of Tesla were up marginally successful Thursday's pre-market action. The company's banal worth deed a precocious successful December, but has much than halved since then.  

The committee members met Musk and asked him to acknowledge publicly that helium would walk much clip astatine Tesla, the WSJ report said.

It was unclear if Musk — besides a committee subordinate — was alert of the succession planning, oregon if his pledge to walk much clip at Tesla has affected the efforts, the study said.

Much of the company's valuation is based connected that imaginativeness and some investors accidental Trump volition further it. Last week, federal regulators eased rules for investigating autonomous vehicles, boosting Tesla's stock.

Some Tesla directors, including co-founder J.B. Straubel, have been gathering with large investors to reassure them the company is successful bully hands, the WSJ said.

Denholm, hand-picked by Musk whose arguable wage package she defended, has drawn disapproval for her ain wage package, on with questions connected whether that compromised her oversight of Tesla and Musk. Denholm has dismissed the allegations and a spokesperson has said her wage was fair.

In March, Denholm sold astir $33.7 cardinal US worthy of the electric automaker's stock, according to a regulatory filing.

The eight-person Tesla board, which includes Musk's brother Kimbal and James Murdoch, lad of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has been looking to adhd an autarkic director, the report said.