Tesla has denied claims that it approached recruitment firms to initiate a search for a replacement for Elon Musk as chief executive.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the electric car manufacturer’s board began seeking a successor to Musk last month. According to the report, the move stemmed from frustration over Musk's focus on his role in Donald Trump's administration and Tesla’s declining share price.
However, in a statement on Thursday, Tesla described the report as “absolutely false”, while Musk posted on his social media platform X that the newspaper was “a discredit to journalism”.
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm also took to X, writing: “There was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company.”
“This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published),” she added.
“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.”
The denial followed the Wall Street Journal’s claim, citing unnamed sources, that Tesla’s board had advised Musk to devote more time to the company and to make that commitment public. The report stated that Musk did not object to the suggestion.
During a recent earnings call, Musk said: “I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla,” and pledged to “significantly” reduce his involvement in government matters.
On Thursday, Musk strongly criticised the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, writing: “It is an extremely bad breach of ethics that that the WSJ would publish a deliberately false article and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors.”
Musk’s leadership of President Trump’s newly created advisory body — the Department for Government Efficiency (Doge) — has been widely criticised.
Some Tesla customers have expressed disillusionment with the brand, citing Musk’s political views and actions while leading Doge. A large number of people have pledged to boycott the company, while others have staged protests at Tesla dealerships, with some incidents resulting in criminal damage.
In March, President Trump — with Mr Musk by his side — told reporters in the White House gardens that those engaging in violence against Tesla would “go through hell”.
It remains unclear when Musk — who contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to Trump’s re-election campaign — intends to fully step down. Trump said last month: “I’ll keep Elon as long as I can keep him.”
