Recently, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece claiming Tesla's board was seriously looking into replacing Elon Musk as CEO. According to the article, board members had even reached out to search firms to kick off a formal hunt for someone new. Not long after that report went live, Robyn Denholm, Tesla's board chair, pushed back. Early Thursday morning, she used the company's official X account to shut the story down with a clear, direct denial.
Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company.
— Tesla (@Tesla) May 1, 2025
This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published).
The CEO of Tesla is…
Elon Musk himself also posted on X, calling the piece a "deliberately false article".
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
The backdrop to the Wall Street Journal's claims, whether accurate or not, is a rough stretch Tesla's been going through. The company's first-quarter numbers were not great: revenue and profits were down, and vehicle deliveries slipped compared to last year. On top of that, Tesla just lost its title as the world's top EV seller to China's BYD. The stock hasn't fared much better, taking a noticeable hit since the start of the year. All of this lines up with what the Journal described as "deteriorating sales and profits," which they said had the board worried.
But it's not just the numbers. A lot of attention and tension revolve around Musk himself. He's been getting a lot more political lately, throwing his weight behind Trump and helping run something called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That kind of high-profile involvement in politics has stirred up backlash, especially in places like California and parts of Europe where Tesla once had stronger support. The Journal linked that to falling sales in those regions and noted how some customers have started distancing themselves from Musk, even with bumper stickers.
Then there's the question of how much time Musk actually spends on Tesla. Between SpaceX, Neuralink, and X, he's clearly got a lot on his plate. Investors have started to wonder how much bandwidth he has left for Tesla, and whether the company is suffering because of it. Amidst these concerns and pressure, including the board's alleged call for more focus mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article, Musk recently stated during the Q1 earnings call that he would be allocating "far more of [his] time to Tesla" starting the following month, reducing his focus on his government work which is reportedly now being done remotely.
The Wall Street Journal report also contained anecdotal details suggesting internal unease, like an executive reportedly being forced out after telling colleagues it was harder to hire talent due to Musk's politics and that the company would be better off with a different CEO. It also quoted sources saying that while board members noted Musk participated in meetings remotely, he sometimes needed more briefing on specific Tesla matters.
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