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

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!”

It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the @WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors! https://t.co/9xdypLGg3c

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2025

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.

WSJ is a discredit to journalism https://t.co/d8dOeCE9u2

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2025

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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