Elon Musk rages at report of Tesla board hunting for a new CEO

midian182

midian182

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In brief: Tesla has vehemently denied a report by the Wall Street Journal that alleges the EV giant's board contacted recruitment firms to search for a replacement for Elon Musk as CEO. Musk called the article "deliberately false" and an "extremely bad breach of ethics."

According to the WSJ report, which cites comments from sources familiar with the discussions, Tesla's board reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla's next CEO. The publication added that the board had narrowed its focus to a major search firm.

It's also claimed that the board members told Musk he needed to spend more time on Tesla and to say so publicly. The WSJ adds that Musk did not push back against the suggestion.

Tesla has eight people on its board, including Musk himself, his brother, Kimbal Musk, and James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Robyn Denholm, chair of Tesla, refuted the report earlier today. She called the article "absolutely false" on X, adding that this had been communicated to the media before the report was published.

"The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead," Denholm wrote on the official Tesla account.

Musk was apoplectic over the article. He posted that the WSJ is a "discredit to journalism" and that it failed to "include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!"

Musk admitted during Tesla's earnings call last week that there had been "some blowback" on the EV company over his ties with the Trump administration. Tesla's total revenue was down 9% year-on-year to $19.34 billion in the January-March quarter, while revenue from its automotive segment fell 20% year-on-year to $14 billion. Profits were down in the first quarter by 71% to $409 million.

Tesla's share price is down 25% since the start of the year, and some attribute the fall to Musk's attention being elsewhere. The CEO said he would take a step back from helping the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) slash federal spending starting in May, devoting only a day or two each week on government matters. "I'll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla," Musk said.

Trump himself suggested on Monday that "He's got a big company to run [...] At some point he's going to be going back."

According to a 130-day limit on his service as a special government employee, Musk is supposed to leave DOGE on May 30.

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Elon Musk rages at report of Tesla board hunting for a new CEO

 
The weakest part of Tesla is Elon. I quite fancied an M3 SR in red with white seats as my next car but I honestly don't like being associated with Elon (or Trump) so they lose a sale from me. I suspect many people feel the same. I just think it makes sound business sense to drop him.

PS He should of been fired long ago for coming up with the cyber truck.
 
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I sold my Tesla a couple of months ago as I fear the value of the brand/resale will be near nothing in a few years if it keeps going the way it has. I actually felt pretty lucky at the time that I got rid of it for a decent price.

It's not _just_ Elon, there are some fundamental things that are going to be extremely hard for the company to push back on.
 
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If Tesla wants any chance whatsoever of rehabilitating their public image, the first step has to be dumping Elon. I don't know why they've kept him around this long, ever since he kept hyping up "full self driving" by next year starting in what, 2016 was it, and every year since it's still in "beta". The Cybertruck was another unequivocal failure, one Elon kept insisting before it came out that it was a project he was deeply involved in.

He's nothing but bad news, not even getting into his current political position.
 
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The focus on Elon himself, IMHO, is smokescreening the real problem that Tesla faces. After being both the innovator and in fact the sole provider of electric vehicles for so long, the rest of the worldwide auto manufacturing industry has finally caught up to them. I was at a car show at the Metro Toronto Convention Center earlier this year with family members and friends who are very happy with their Teslas -- try to remember that their original cars are really very good -- and every other manufacturer was on par with them in their 2025 models, as good as if not even better in some cases. I was genuinely shocked how comparable Chinese manfacturer Polestar, whose cars I would personally never touch even if they were the last ones on Earth, was. As soon as I realized that everyone else was on their level, I turned to one of my Tesla owning friends and said "Tesla is in big trouble. Everyone has caught up to them." and he nodded his head in agreement with me. I compare this to the first time I ever laid eyes on a Tesla vehicle as they were being promoted in Toronto before they even rolled off the manufacturing line en masse and a dealership had opened up here and there was literally nothing like one at the time.

The situation Tesla currently finds itself in reminds me of the cautionary tale of Blackberry which was in an eerily similar position. They were the sole innovator, provider and leader in the mobile communications market forever to the point where they quickly became part of the mainstream lexicon... and then Apple surpassed them with the iPhone and Google surpassed them with Android and helped every other phone maker not named Apple do the same. I'm feeling the exact same thing is about to happen to Tesla. And the production of their horrendous Cybertruck seems similar to Blackberry's last ditch attempt to come up with an iPhone/Android style of phone which failed miserably. I really don't forsee the future going well for Tesla.
 
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Tran Bronstein said:
The focus on Elon himself, IMHO, is smokescreening the real problem that Tesla faces. After being both the innovator and in fact the sole provider of electric vehicles for so long, the rest of the worldwide auto manufacturing industry has finally caught up to them. I was at a car show at the Metro Toronto Convention Center earlier this year with family members and friends who are very happy with their Teslas -- try to remember that their original cars are really very good -- and every other manufacturer was on par with them in their 2025 models, as good as if not even better in some cases. I was genuinely shocked how comparable Chinese manfacturer Polestar, whose cars I would personally never touch even if they were the last ones on Earth, was. As soon as I realized that everyone else was on their level, I turned to one of my Tesla owning friends and said "Tesla is in big trouble. Everyone has caught up to them." and he nodded his head in agreement with me. I compare this to the first time I ever laid eyes on a Tesla vehicle as they were being promoted in Toronto before they even rolled off the manufacturing line en masse and a dealership had opened up here and there was literally nothing like one at the time.

The situation Tesla currently finds itself in reminds me of the cautionary tale of Blackberry which was in an eerily similar position. They were the sole innovator, provider and leader in the mobile communications market forever to the point where they quickly became part of the mainstream lexicon... and then Apple surpassed them with the iPhone and Google surpassed them with Android and helped every other phone maker not named Apple do the same. I'm feeling the exact same thing is about to happen to Tesla. And the production of their horrendous Cybertruck seems similar to Blackberry's last ditch attempt to come up with an iPhone/Android style of phone which failed miserably. I really don't forsee the future going well for Tesla.
Click to expand...
Personally, I think that the popularity of Tesla's was mostly hype created by Musk and others. IMO, Toyota has been ahead for a long time, however, they decided to play it safe. The only aspect, and its an important one, where Toyota was not ahead is EV range. Personally, I don't see Musk as an innovator. He came along with a wad of cash and people thought that wad of cash represented his "intelligence and genius."

That said, I've been saying, for several years now, that once the adults got into EV manufacturing in a big way, Tesla would become the Edsel of the 21st century. Musk and his political pandering are hastening that outcome, IMO. 1st quarter 2025 profits down 70% from the same quarter last year speaks volumes about what people really think of Teslas. Its not like Teslas have had no controversy since their inception.
 
Whether or not the report is true, the fact that it gained so much traction shows how concerned investors are about Musk’s divided attention right now.
 
Billybobjoey said:
If Tesla wants any chance whatsoever of rehabilitating their public image, the first step has to be dumping Elon. I don't know why they've kept him around this long, ever since he kept hyping up "full self driving" by next year starting in what, 2016 was it, and every year since it's still in "beta". The Cybertruck was another unequivocal failure, one Elon kept insisting before it came out that it was a project he was deeply involved in.

He's nothing but bad news, not even getting into his current political position.
Click to expand...
Easy answer -- board is too nepo and too well compensated.
 
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wiyosaya said:
Personally, I think that the popularity of Tesla's was mostly hype created by Musk and others. IMO, Toyota has been ahead for a long time, however, they decided to play it safe. The only aspect, and its an important one, where Toyota was not ahead is EV range. Personally, I don't see Musk as an innovator. He came along with a wad of cash and people thought that wad of cash represented his "intelligence and genius."

That said, I've been saying, for several years now, that once the adults got into EV manufacturing in a big way, Tesla would become the Edsel of the 21st century. Musk and his political pandering are hastening that outcome, IMO. 1st quarter 2025 profits down 70% from the same quarter last year speaks volumes about what people really think of Teslas. Its not like Teslas have had no controversy since their inception.
Click to expand...
I think the main thing Tesla has going for it is its OS. It's hard for many to get used to the interface and once they do, they need a substantial reason to reacclimate (more people have ataxia than you might realize). However, Elon has now given people a lot of motivation to change horses. Once they're gone, it will be very hard to get them back. My first car was a Toyota and 30 years later I'm driving a Toyota. Toyota has given me no reason to switch and its consistency of performance has given me more than ample reason to stay.
 
Tesla is not Tesla without Elon. The left are clueless about Tesla. All that know is Elon is no longer on the left so he is evil.
 
Tran Bronstein said:
The focus on Elon himself, IMHO, is smokescreening the real problem that Tesla faces. After being both the innovator and in fact the sole provider of electric vehicles for so long, the rest of the worldwide auto manufacturing industry has finally caught up to them. I was at a car show at the Metro Toronto Convention Center earlier this year with family members and friends who are very happy with their Teslas -- try to remember that their original cars are really very good -- and every other manufacturer was on par with them in their 2025 models, as good as if not even better in some cases. I was genuinely shocked how comparable Chinese manfacturer Polestar, whose cars I would personally never touch even if they were the last ones on Earth, was. As soon as I realized that everyone else was on their level, I turned to one of my Tesla owning friends and said "Tesla is in big trouble. Everyone has caught up to them." and he nodded his head in agreement with me. I compare this to the first time I ever laid eyes on a Tesla vehicle as they were being promoted in Toronto before they even rolled off the manufacturing line en masse and a dealership had opened up here and there was literally nothing like one at the time.

The situation Tesla currently finds itself in reminds me of the cautionary tale of Blackberry which was in an eerily similar position. They were the sole innovator, provider and leader in the mobile communications market forever to the point where they quickly became part of the mainstream lexicon... and then Apple surpassed them with the iPhone and Google surpassed them with Android and helped every other phone maker not named Apple do the same. I'm feeling the exact same thing is about to happen to Tesla. And the production of their horrendous Cybertruck seems similar to Blackberry's last ditch attempt to come up with an iPhone/Android style of phone which failed miserably. I really don't forsee the future going well for Tesla.
Click to expand...
I believe Blackberry died due to lack of R&D, you need to keep innovating and they sat on their rears counting their cash and let the rest of the world overtake. I don't think Tesla will do that, they have many projects on the go and are prepared to take risks on the way. It doesn't matter if you like or dislike Musk, they have people who can make things happen. Tesla's are good cars and they're still ahead of the game in most areas of e-driving imo and if they manage to finally make use of the data they've been collecting over the last decade or so they'll make another leap ahead very soon.
 
Tran Bronstein said:
I was genuinely shocked how comparable Chinese manfacturer Polestar, whose cars I would personally never touch even if they were the last ones on Earth, was. As soon as I realized that everyone else was on their level
Click to expand...
To get a bit more nuanced view I would recommend you read the Wikipedia article on Polestar, it begins like this:
"Polestar is a Swedish automotive manufacturer that produces electric cars. Principally owned by Li Shufu's PSD Investment, Geely Holding and Volvo Cars, the company is headquartered in Torslanda, outside Gothenburg, Sweden."
 
Per Hansson said:
To get a bit more nuanced view I would recommend you read the Wikipedia article on Polestar, it begins like this:
"Polestar is a Swedish automotive manufacturer that produces electric cars. Principally owned by Li Shufu's PSD Investment, Geely Holding and Volvo Cars, the company is headquartered in Torslanda, outside Gothenburg, Sweden."
Click to expand...

It's funny, Polestar is a Swedish high end brand way above Tesla in my opinion. They are luxury cars. They are Chinese owned, but the team are still in Northern Europe and they are very classy.
 
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