Tesla denies CEO search as Musk calls WSJ report unethical

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has strongly condemned a Wall Street Journal report claiming the Tesla board had begun searching for his replacement, calling it “an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS.” 

The WSJ article, published April 30, alleged that Tesla’s board contacted executive search firms in March due to concerns about Musk’s political activities and divided attention among his ventures, including his advisory role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to accuse the WSJ of publishing false information while deliberately ignoring a clear denial from Tesla’s board.

“This is absolutely false. 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,” stated Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm on Tesla’s official X account.

The report surfaced amid growing scrutiny of Musk’s political involvement, which some critics say has damaged Tesla’s brand, especially internationally.

Tesla’s first-quarter 2025 profit dropped 71%, with revenues falling 9.2% year-over-year to $19.34 billion and missing Wall Street estimates by nearly 8%.

Tesla’s market value has declined by over $800 billion since the start of the year. 

Musk, who also leads SpaceX, Neuralink, and the merged X and xAI, recently agreed to reduce his physical presence in Washington and shift more focus back to Tesla in response to shareholder pressure. 

The backlash against the WSJ is not isolated to Musk. Crypto executives including Binance’s former CEO Changpeng Zhao and Tether representatives have also criticized the publication for biased and misleading coverage of the digital asset industry.

Zhao dismissed a WSJ report alleging his cooperation with U.S. prosecutors as false, while Tether called a previous WSJ article accusing it of using fake documents “stale” and “misleading.”