Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) board of directors had reached out to executive search firms about a month ago to find a new CEO to replace Elon Musk.
Tesla denied the report and said that the assertion that the board reached out to recruitment firms is “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 chairwoman Robyn Denholm.
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Musk also denied the report in a post on his social media platform X.
“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.
What If?: It remains to be seen if there is any truth to the Wall Street Journal's report, but other EV makers could stand to benefit if Musk is ousted from Tesla.
Chinese EV makers like XPeng, Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) and NIO, Inc. (NYSE:NIO) have been expanding aggressively. If Tesla were to see its leadership in turmoil, the companies could potentially accelerate their gains, especially in Europe and Asia where Tesla's sales have dropped sharply.
Smaller American EV manufacturers like Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) and Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) could attract both investors and customers seeking alternatives to Tesla, especially if they can position themselves as more stable or innovative than Tesla under new leadership.
Even traditional automakers like Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM), which have invested heavily in electric vehicles, could benefit if Musk departs from Tesla.
Though Musk and Tesla have both denied the WSJ report, the broader EV market could become more competitive and diversified if Tesla loses its market dominance without Musk at the helm.
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This image was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
