Tesla’s board members may be planning for Elon’s exit behind closed doors

The electric car company has kicked off its search for someone to fill Elon’s shoes, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing multiple anonymous sources.

The board reportedly reached out to multiple executive placement firms to aid their process.

After the news came out on Wednesday night, Tesla stock, $TSLA, has since fallen over -4% in overnight trading.

It is unclear whether Elon was aware of the board members’ decision

It is unclear whether the board is still continuing with their search or at what stage the search is in.

However, sources claimed to WSJ that they zeroed in on one particular firm to manage the search.

It was also unclear whether Elon was aware of the board members’ decision.

“Why did they wait so long,” a social media user asked 

Netizens erupted with praises on social media over the possibility of Elon being replaced.

“Yay! Regardless, the damage is done and I would never consider buying a Tesla because of that,” one said, while another wrote, “Musk is nothing but a liability for Tesla.”

“Maybe he should not have made those Nazi salutes,” another said.

“Who’s buying Teslas these days? He’s essentially made the brand toxic,” another said.

Others backed up the SpaceX founder and said, “Elon isn’t going anywhere.”

“Without Musk, Tesla is just another car company. The stock would drop 90% without him,” said another.

The company’s sinking stock prices and plummeting profits reportedly contributed to the board members’ decision to search for a successor 

The WSJ report listed the company’s sinking stocks as one of the reasons that triggered the search for Elon’s successor.

The company’s sales have taken a nosedive, and there was a massive profit decline reported in the first quarter for this year.

The company’s shares fell 41% this year after Elon appeared to embrace right-wing politics. The first-quarter performance revealed that the company’s revenue fell by 9% and profits plummeted 71% to $409 million, according to Financial Express.

Elon’s increased focus on the White House and embrace of right-wing politics have also been a concern

Moreover, members were worried about the billionaire tech founder giving Tesla less attention and devoting much of his time to Donald Trump and the White House.

There were also campaigns to boycott Tesla and cases of vandalism at the company’s showrooms and charging stations in the US and Europe.

Only days have passed since Elon claimed he would be dedicating more time to Tesla

Over the last few weeks, reports also revealed that Elon will be stepping back from his official role with the Trump administration’s DOGE team.

DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency.

On Wednesday, April 30, the president himself said Elon probably wants to go back to run his car company.

“You know you’re invited to stay as long as you want, and so forth,” he reportedly said during a Cabinet meeting. “I guess he wants to get back home to his cars.”

Elon also acknowledged the “blowback” over the time he has been spending with the government.

“There’s been some blowback for the time that I’ve been spending in government with the Department of Government Efficiency,” he said last week on a call with Tesla investors and analysts.

He said he would be giving Tesla more time start from May.

“Starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla,” he added.

Elon has been running Tesla since 2008. Although he stepped down as chairman of the board in 2018, he has been significantly involved in its operations.