Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm on Thursday strongly refuted a Wall Street Journal report alleging that the company’s board had initiated a search for a new CEO to potentially replace Elon Musk.
The Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Wednesday that Tesla board members had reached out to executive search firms about a month ago to discuss possible successors. The report suggested internal concerns about Musk’s commitment to the company amid his expanding political and government roles.
Denholm dismissed the claims in a post on X, calling the report “absolutely false” and affirming the board’s continued “high confidence” in Musk’s leadership and strategic vision. Musk also took to the platform, branding the article as “deliberately false.”
The denials come amid growing scrutiny of Musk’s dual roles as Tesla CEO and head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has led controversial efforts to slash federal jobs. His political involvement has sparked backlash, with protests and acts of vandalism targeting Tesla facilities in both the U.S. and Europe.
According to the Journal, some board members reportedly met with Musk in private to urge him to reaffirm his commitment to Tesla publicly. It remains unclear whether Musk was informed of any board-level discussions about succession or whether his recent public pledge to refocus on Tesla influenced those talks.
Musk has since said he will scale back his role in government affairs to devote more attention to Tesla as it navigates a critical transition. The company is shifting away from its core focus on affordable electric vehicles toward ambitious new ventures in autonomous taxi services and robotics. Musk has repeatedly stated that Tesla’s future lies in artificial intelligence and humanoid robots—technologies he believes will define the next phase of growth.
Tesla shares rallied last week following news that U.S. regulators had eased restrictions on testing autonomous vehicles, a development seen as a boost to Musk’s AI-driven vision for the company.
