‘Absolutely False’: Tesla Rejects CEO Change Rumours, Elon Musk Calls ‘WSJ Discredit To Journalism’

Rejecting rumours about replacement of Elon Musk as Tesla Chief of Executive Officer, the EV automaker on Thursday reiterated its confidence in Musk. The company's response has come after Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla board has opened search for a new CEO to succeed Elon Musk.

Tech billionaire, Elon Musk, had also reacted sharply to the news. "WSJ is a discredit to journalism," wrote Elon Musk in a post on X while resharing a social media post on WSJ report.

Tesla Rejects CEO Change Rumours

Apart from Musk, Robyn Denhol, Chairman of the board of directors of Tesla Motors also shared an official statement calling the news report on Tesla CEO change as completely false.

"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. This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published)," read a statement from Denhol.

Expressing the company's board of directors confidence on Musk, the Denhol stated, "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."

Wall Street Journal on Wednesday had reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Tesla's board members had reached out nearly a month ago to several executive search firms to appoint a new CEO for the EV maker.

Elon Musk To Devote More Time To Tesla Amid Falling Stocks And Sales

Amid declining profitability of Tesla and falling shares of the company, Elon Musk on April 22, had said that he would start devoting more time to tesla and less on leading Department of Government Efficiency, the US government entity formed by President Donald Trump.

According to a Reuters' report, Elon Musk's diversion of focus to DOGE from Tesla has significantly impacted the EV maker. Musk's involvement in the so-called DOGE, where he has led efforts to cut federal jobs has sparked a huge political storm and has fulled significant protests across the country. Many of the protests also led protestors damaging Tesla showrooms, reported REuters.

Due to the falling performance of the company on the US stock market, investors have raised concerns about Musk spending too little time managing Tesla, whose shares have nosedived significantly.

Tesla's quarterly sales dipped by more than 10% to the weakest in nearly three years in the previous quarter. The decline in Tesla sales has come amid growing backlash for CEO Elon Musk's politics, rising global competition and geopolitical tensions.

"The large slog of work necessary to get the DOGE team in place and working with the government to get the financial house in order is mostly done," Reuters quoted Musk as saying during a conference call with analysts. However, he added that he is likely to spend nearly 40% of his time on DOGE.

The company is also bearing the brunt of US trade tariff policy. Tesla has paused some of China-sourced component imports after U.S. tariffs on the Asian country rose to 145%, Reuters reported. The situation may improve in future as both the nations are negotiating to find a common ground on trade tariff tensions.