Tesla’s board is reportedly looking to replace Elon Musk as CEO

Tesla’s board of directors is actively exploring potential successors to Elon Musk, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Talks reportedly began about a month ago, following a sharp drop in Tesla’s stock and growing investor criticism — largely due to Musk’s increasing involvement in political activities.

Tesla's valuation peaked at $1.5 trillion after Donald Trump’s election victory, but has since dropped to $900 billion by early 2025. Tensions escalated when Musk publicly voiced support for right-wing parties in Europe, prompting backlash from Tesla owners in Germany and the UK — some of whom have displayed protest stickers on their cars.

On April 22, 2025, Tesla reported a 71% drop in quarterly profit and a 9% drop in revenue. EV sales were down 13% year-over-year — the worst result since Q3 2022. That same day, Musk announced he would scale back his work in government efficiency projects starting in May, limiting it to “one or two days per week.”

Both Tesla and Musk have publicly denied the WSJ report. Tesla posted on X (formerly Twitter) calling it “absolutely false” and reaffirmed their confidence in Musk.

“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!” Musk wrote on X.