Tesla denies contacting headhunters to replace Elon Musk

Tesla has denied reviews that it has contacted recruitment corporations to launch a seek for a alternative for Elon Musk as chief govt.

The Wall Road Journal reported on Wednesday that the electrical automotive agency’s board started on the lookout for a successor to Mr Musk final month.

It stated this was due to frustration round Mr Musk’s deal with his job in US President Donald Trump’s administration and Tesla’s sinking share value.

Nevertheless, in assertion on Thursday, Tesla stated the report was “completely false” whereas Mr Musk wrote on his social media platform X that the paper was “a discredit to journalism”.

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm wrote on X: “There was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment corporations to provoke a CEO search on the firm.”

“That is completely false (and this was communicated to the media earlier than the report was revealed).”

She added: “The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the board is very assured in his means to proceed executing on the thrilling progress plan forward.”

The denial comes after the Wall Road Journal, citing unnamed sources, wrote that Mr Musk was advised by the board he wanted to spend extra time on Tesla and that he wanted to say so publicly.

The paper stated Mr Musk didn’t push again towards the suggestion.

Final week, Mr Musk stated on a convention name about earnings “I will be allocating way more of my time to Tesla” and pledged to “considerably” reduce his authorities function.

Writing on X on Thursday, Mr Musk was closely crucial of the Wall Road Journal’s reporting.

“It’s an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to incorporate an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of administrators,” he stated.

He later reposted a remark from an X consumer that known as the paper “trash”.

Mr Musk’s management of Trump’s newly created advisory physique – the Division for Authorities Effectivity (Doge) – has attracted numerous criticism.

Some clients of Tesla say they no longer feel loyal to the brand due to Mr Musk’s controversial political opinions and actions whereas in control of Doge.

Some have pledged to boycott the agency whereas others have staged protests towards it due to Mr Musk – in some circumstances inflicting prison harm to dealerships.

In the meantime, buyers and analysts have stated Mr Musk’s repute and his juggling of high-level roles is a part of the rationale why Tesla struggling financially.

In March, Trump – with Mr Musk by his facet – advised reporters on the White Home gardens anybody utilizing violence towards Tesla would “undergo hell”.

He then pledged to purchase a purple Mannequin-S, one in all quite a lot of Teslas lined up on the White Home drive that day, to assist the electrical automotive agency.

Momentary authorities staff, reminiscent of Mr Musk, are usually restricted to working 130 days a yr which, if counted from the day of Trump’s inauguration, will finish in late Could.

However it’s unclear when Mr Musk, who contributed greater than 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} to Trump’s re-election, will step down utterly.

Trump stated final month he would maintain Mr Musk “so long as I might maintain him”.

On Wednesday, Mr Musk, who additionally runs area agency SpaceX, made mild of the thought he was doing too many roles.

In a video posted on X in a White Home cupboard assembly, he was sporting two baseball caps.

“They are saying I put on numerous hats,” Mr Musk stated within the video. “That is true. Even my hat has a hat.”

Bloomberg reported that Mr Musk additionally stated on Wednesday that Doge ought to look at the spending of the US central financial institution, the Federal Reserve, significantly the price of renovating its headquarters.

Mr Musk has made related feedback earlier than, elevating the concept that the Fed needs to be audited. Nevertheless, such a transfer would pose questions concerning the financial institution’s independence.