Tesla board members reached out a few month in the past to a number of govt search companies to discover a successor to CEO Elon Musk, the Wall Road Journal reported on Wednesday, citing individuals aware of the discussions.
The present standing of the board’s push, which, in response to the report, was sparked by Musk’s heavy involvement with the Trump administration, couldn’t be decided, WSJ mentioned.
Musk final week mentioned he would in the reduction of considerably on the time he devotes to the Trump administration and spend extra time operating Tesla.
Musk’s work at his Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), the place he has led efforts to chop federal jobs, has been one of the crucial controversial facets of the Trump presidency, and his time away from Tesla has been a further concern for buyers as gross sales of its growing old EV lineup have been on the decline.
His embrace of far-right politics in Europe has additionally led to protests towards Musk and the corporate in addition to vandalism at its showrooms and charging stations throughout the US and Europe.
The board members met Musk and requested him to acknowledge publicly that he would spend extra time at Tesla, the report mentioned.
However it was unclear if Musk – additionally a member of the board – was conscious of succession planning, or if his pledge to spend extra time at Tesla has affected the efforts, the report added.
Tesla and Musk didn’t instantly reply to Reuters’ requests for remark.
Tesla is at a vital juncture.
Amid rising competitors globally, Musk has pivoted from his promise of creating a brand new reasonably priced EV platform to rolling out driverless taxis and humanoid robots, highlighting Tesla’s future as an AI and robotics firm as a substitute of an automaker.
A lot of the corporate’s valuation relies on that imaginative and prescient, and a few buyers consider Trump will assist additional it.
Final week, federal regulators eased guidelines for testing autonomous automobiles, boosting Tesla’s inventory.
Some Tesla administrators, together with co-founder JB Straubel, have been assembly with main buyers to reassure them the corporate is in good palms, the WSJ mentioned.
Activist buyers have lengthy accused Tesla’s board of missing independence and failing to rein in Musk.
Board chair Robyn Denholm, hand-picked by Musk whose controversial pay bundle she defended, has additionally drawn criticism for her personal pay bundle together with questions on whether or not that compromised her oversight of Tesla and Musk.
Denholm has dismissed the allegations and a spokesperson has mentioned her pay was truthful.
