The chair of Tesla’s board of administrators denied a report that the corporate had begun to search for a substitute for Elon Musk, the chief government who has been spending a lot of his time working for President Trump whereas the automaker’s gross sales and earnings have plummeted.
Robyn Denholm, who has led the board for greater than six years, mentioned on X on Thursday that the report in The Wall Avenue Journal was “completely false.”
“The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the board is very assured in his capacity to proceed executing on the thrilling development plan forward,” Ms. Denholm mentioned on Tesla’s account on X, the social media agency Mr. Musk owns.
The Journal reported late Wednesday that, a few month in the past, the Tesla board had contacted government search companies to assist search for Mr. Musk’s substitute, citing “folks aware of the matter.”
A spokesman for The Journal mentioned the newspaper stood by its reporting.
After the corporate reported a 71 p.c drop in quarterly revenue final week, Mr. Musk promised to spend more time at Tesla and fewer time in Washington. He mentioned he would spend one or two days per week on authorities work.
Mr. Musk’s absence from Tesla whereas he oversaw Mr. Trump’s efforts to slash authorities spending and reduce federal jobs has grow to be a sore level with traders. Mr. Musk’s involvement with the administration and with right-wing causes in Europe has prompted protests at Tesla dealerships and is partly accountable for a steep drop in gross sales. Electrical car patrons are usually liberals or centrists.
Tesla’s income fell 9 p.c within the first quarter of the 12 months, to $19.3 billion, the corporate reported final week.
The automaker has misplaced market share in the US, China and Europe as rivals like BYD, Basic Motors and Volkswagen introduce dozens of electrical fashions. Analysts have faulted Tesla for failing to increase its lineup past two predominant vehicles.
The Mannequin Y sport utility car and the Mannequin 3 sedan account for a overwhelming majority of Tesla’s gross sales. The Cybertruck, Tesla’s latest car, has not offered in addition to Mr. Musk mentioned it might.
