Tesla and Elon Musk have denied an April 30 report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that claimed the electric vehicle maker’s board of directors had begun a search for a successor to the CEO. The company dismissed the claims through a short post on X, just hours after the news surfaced.
In a statement posted on X Thursday, Tesla wrote: “This is absolutely false, and was 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.”
Elon Musk himself later on quoted Tesla’s post, beckoning: “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!”
WSJ is a discredit to journalism https://t.co/d8dOeCE9u2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2025
WSJ alleged that approximately one month ago, members of the company’s eight-person board reached out to executive search firms to begin looking for a new CEO. The report cited individuals familiar with the matter who claimed that the board was unhappy because Musk was “more focused” on his political responsibilities in Washington, DC.
WSJ: Tesla Board asked Musk to give Tesla more of his time
According to the WSJ exclusive, the board met with Musk to urge him to reengage with the company. Members allegedly told him he needed to commit more time to Tesla, which Musk supposedly did not object to.
In a recent earnings call following a 71% plunge in first-quarter profit, Musk told investors, “Starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla.”
The WSJ added that in 2024, Tesla experienced its first annual sales decline in over a decade. Price cuts meant to boost volume had eaten into profit margins. Meanwhile, the much-hyped Cybertruck failed to impress and was ridiculed by Tesla naysayers on social platforms.
Tesla is also struggling with tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which have slowed down its operations in China and along North America’s interconnected supply chain. Musk said he asked US President Donald Trump to lower tariffs, but he told investors, “That’s all I can do,” and that the decision “lies in Trump’s hands.”
Signals inside Tesla tell different tales
The WSJ also reported that some at Tesla were confident Musk could micromanage his day-to-day affairs at Tesla, but others were uneasy about his stay in Washington. More than 20 executives report directly to the CEO, and employees said that for months, communication from him had been minimal.
His first direct interaction with many came in March during a company-wide all-hands meeting streamed publicly on X. He urged employees to keep their stock, assuring them that “the future is bright and exciting.”
The publication mentioned that in messages shared by a close associate, Musk complained about working nonstop for nearly 20 years as the company’s head without any salary, and a judge recently rejected his multibillion-dollar compensation package.
He allegedly told confidants that he no longer wanted to be CEO but feared that no one else could see the company’s plans in robotics and automation beyond car manufacturing through.
In response to the WSJ piece, The Kobeissi Letter commented on X that the article likely was written based on discussions before Musk promised to prioritize Tesla in April. “We believe it is highly unlikely this ‘search’ is continuing,” the post said.
“This is deliberate dissemination of false information to manipulate stock prices; Tesla should sue WSJ,” propounded one Tesla investor.
Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More
