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Tesla has reaffirmed its confidence in its CEO, Elon Musk, after a report claimed the company was looking to replace him amid poor results and a sinking share price.
“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," says Robyn Denholm, the chair of Tesla’s board. “This is absolutely false (and this 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," she adds.
This followed a report in The Wall Street Journal that said “board members” talked to several headhunters about plans to find a successor to Musk about "a month ago."
Musk weighed in on X. "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!" He later added, "WSJ is a discredit to journalism."
This news comes a week after the company reported a 71% profit drop year-over-year. Tesla saw a drop in deliveries throughout Q1 2025, which is believed to be in part connected to protests against Musk’s involvement in the US government’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project.
Musk announced during the earnings call last week that he would be taking a smaller role in DOGE to better focus on his role at Tesla by the end of May, though he still plans to dedicate “several days a week” to DOGE.
The Journal's sources didn’t clarify whether the report was a concerted move by Tesla's board or if it was individuals speaking to the recruitment teams. The eight-member board includes Musk himself, as well as Denholm, Musk's brother Kimbal Musk, and James Murdoch, son of Rupert.
Musk’s work at DOGE isn’t his only project alongside Tesla. He's also CEO of xAI, CEO of SpaceX, and chairman of social media network X.