Is Elon Musk planning to leave Tesla? This question arose recently when a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Tesla board members had contacted executive search firms to help find a replacement of Musk.
However, Tesla chair Robyn Denholm denied all these rumours on Thursday, May 1, calling them "absolute false."
Denholm wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "There was media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company."
She added, "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," Denholm further elaborated.
What was Elon Musk's response to WSJ claims?
In response, Musk strongly criticized the Wall Street Journal's report on X stating, "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."
What did the WSJ report claim?
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, April 30 reported that Tesla's board started reaching for a replacement for Musk last month.
The reason behind this, according to the report was frustration with Musk's focus on his role in US President Donald Trump's administration and decline in Tesla's share prices.
It further stated that Tesla's board had told Musk that he needed to focus more on Tesla and make a public statement about it.
