How could Tesla replace Elon Musk?

Will he stay or will he go? Tesla last week shot down a report that its board is searching for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk atop the company. But questions about the company's future are not going away.

Finding somebody to take Musk's place is a "huge challenge" for Tesla, said Axios. There are three "practically unanswerable" questions about the process: Who could take his place? How would Musk react? What would investors think? The questions may soon need answering. Tesla has "suffered declining sales" since Musk made himself the face of the Trump administration's government-slashing efforts. Despite the company's stumbles, any new CEO "will be operating in Musk's shadow."

What did the commentators say?

Musk has already told investors he will "pivot back to his job at Tesla," said The Wall Street Journal. His "detour into government" came at an already-perilous moment for the company: Sales of Tesla EVs declined in 2024, for the first time in a decade, and the Cybertruck has been the "butt of jokes by late-night comics." There are questions of overstretch: Tesla is "only one of five businesses" that Musk oversees. And to some inside the company, it has become clear that his political work is a "business liability."

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Musk is Tesla's "greatest asset and gravest risk," said Liam Denning at Bloomberg. Succession planning would be a sign that the company board is "looking out for investors." After all, any "reasonable set of directors" would be "taking steps to find a successor" to a CEO running "multiple companies" and making political waves "liable to trash the brand." Instead, Tesla's EV business has been in "decline for much of the past two years," while the board of directors stood by and failed to act. That reveals the "hollowness of the board" that ostensibly oversees Musk.

"The old rules of carmaking don't apply to Tesla," said the Financial Times. Neither do the usual rules of corporate governance. Tesla's stock value rests in part on "hordes of exuberant retail traders" who are big Musk fans. Investors do not seem to care that the CEO has "written numerous checks" he "subsequently failed to cash" with unfilled or late-arriving promises of self-driving cars and robotaxis. Analysts have noted that Tesla's stock has often "traded more in line with bitcoin than the wider market." If he leaves, so does much of the company's value. Even with declining car sales, Musk is "too big to eject."

What next?

Tesla has sent a message that Musk "isn't untouchable," said Quartz. The report of the board's willingness to replace him was likely part of a "game of high-stakes poker between the board and Musk" in which the board was firing a "warning shot," said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. It is likely Musk will remain CEO for at least five years.

Any new chief executive would have to shore up Tesla's sinking car sales while still working to deliver Musk's promised robotaxi network, said Reuters. It is a big challenge. "Is Musk bigger than Tesla?" said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. "The answer is yes."