Tesla denies report that the EV maker is looking for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk

Tesla has denied a Wall Street Journal report that claimed the company’s board was actively looking to replace Elon Musk as CEO. Tesla chair Robyn Denholm took to the social platform X to shut down the story, saying the report was “absolutely 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,” she wrote in a post on  X.

“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.”

Musk also didn’t hold back. In a sharp post on X, he said:

“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!”

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! https://t.co/9xdypLGg3c

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2025

Despite the strong denials, the market didn’t flinch. Tesla shares were flat in premarket trading Thursday, after dipping as much as 3% on Robinhood overnight following the report.

As we reported yesterday night, the WSJ story, citing unnamed sources, claimed the board had reached out to executive search firms to start a formal process for finding Musk’s successor.

This all comes at a rocky time for Tesla. The company missed expectations on both revenue and profit in the first quarter, and Musk has suggested that his alignment with the Trump administration might be weighing on the stock.

During last week’s earnings call, Musk said he plans to spend just “a day or two per week” starting in May, leading the new Department of Government Efficiency.