https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-musk-ceo-search-board-0ce61af9?fbclid=IwY2xjawKAq8xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFKTkFUMDlUajl5a2JjczBuAR4GHFLQ_8BqwSKs0O9Cyg6QE8BEzpRwWhIcTcTDaxfSDKaHXoCqv0oZkltQIQ_aem_f7Zg1Io80dA4U7WCKp0vOA
About a month ago, with Tesla’s TSLA 0.19%increase; green up pointing triangle stock sinking and some investors irritated about Elon Musk’s White House focus, Tesla’s board got serious about looking for Musk’s successor.
Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Tensions had been mounting at the company. Sales and profits were deteriorating rapidly. Musk was spending much of his time in Washington.
Around that time, Tesla’s board met with Musk for an update. Board members told him he needed to spend more time on Tesla, according to people familiar with the meeting. And he needed to say so publicly.
Musk didn’t push back.
Tesla has been on a losing streak in the months since Musk, its visionary chief executive, began spending much of his time helping President Trump slash federal spending. Last week, after the company said its first-quarter profit had plunged 71%, Musk told investors he would soon pivot back to his job at Tesla.
“Starting next month,” he said on a conference call about earnings, “I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla.”
The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The current status of the succession planning couldn’t be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning. Musk didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Tesla didn’t provide a statement before publication. Hours after this article was published, Tesla issued a denial on X. Musk also criticized the article in a post on X.
“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,” Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm said in the statement posted on X.
it would be delicious if elmo got fired. i hope they make him write out five bullets first. and stop working from home.