Hey everyone, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you Over the
next two weeks, we're evolving. We'll be broadening our focus to
cover all the tech Titans shaping our world.
You'll still get the latest insights on Elon Musk, plus so
much more. So stay tuned for our official
relaunch coming soon. Now let's get into this episode.
Tesla's stock price fell nearly 25% in the first four months of
2025, though investors watching the slide wonder whether the
company has a plan if it's CEO Elon Musk leaves or if he stays
and keeps doing damage. Last Wednesday, the Wall Street
Journal reported the Tesla's board had reached out to
multiple executive search firms to start building a short list
of potential successors. And, according to the story, at
least some Tesla directors. We're exploring how to replace
Elon Musk. And that revelation lit a match
under a question that's been quietly simmering for years.
What is Tesla without Elon Musk now?
The report created immediate tension inside Tesla's
leadership. Hours after publication, Tesla
board chair Robin Dunham posted a denial on X.
She said the Journal was erroneously claiming the Tesla's
board had contacted recruiters for ACEO search.
They said this is absolutely false.
Dental added that this clarification had been sent to
the press before the story even ran, but her statement left room
for interpretation. She denied action from the Tesla
board, but not that any individual directors may have
reached out on their own. Now, this ambiguity fuels an
already pressing concern. If Tesla's leadership hasn't
begun considering what life looks like after Musk, they're
running blind into a critical future.
Elon Musk is both Tesla's greatest asset and its most
unpredictable liability. The stock's performance is still
buoying, but his presence is known.
But increasingly, his personal behaviour is dragging the
company into vital territory. Now Musk has shifted from tech
mogul to political combatant. He'd become a loud voice for far
right causes, openly supporting Donald Trump, publicly
criticizing the federal government, and antagonizing
Democratic officials. The shift has turned off many of
Tesla's most likely buyers, liberal climate focused
consumers who prefer clean energy and efficient transport,
to libertarian rhetoric. Now these political stunts have
cost Tesla more than just goodwill, though.
They've hit the bottom line. Car sales are slowing, investors
are getting nervous, and the people more responsible for
maintaining faith in Tesla's brand is too often making
headlines for everything but the business.
And at a time when the EV market is tightening and competition is
getting tougher and all the tariffs that are happening,
Tesla is still trading in a stock valuation wildly out of
sync with its actual sales performance.
And the core problem for Tesla's board is that Elon Musk is the
reason the company stock trades at levels other automakers could
only dream of. Now, as of this week, Tesla's
price to earnings ratio hovers around 167.
That's more than 20 times what General Motors trades at.
Now, Musk has managed to sell the idea that Tesla isn't just a
car maker, it's an avatar for the future.
The illusion keeps the stock inflated.
And that illusion depends entirely on Musk continuing to
project division people believe in.
It's not new, though. Four years ago, a Business
School professor described Tesla to us as the mother of all meme
stocks. The stock's performance has
always relied more on Musk's cult of personality than the
company's fundamentals. Tesla often behaves more like a
social media phenomenon than a stable manufacturing business.
And retail investors treat Musk like a profit, not just ACEO.
As long as he stays loud and provocative, a portion of the
market stays loyal. But that loyalty has its limits.
When Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and turned it into a political
and cultural way to speak his mind, Tesla's shares took a hit.
When he launched his Department of Government Efficiency, the
stock dropped again. Public trust in Musk isn't
constant at wobbles, depending on how extreme his latest move
is. When those wobbles turn into
sharp downturns, Tesla pays the price, and so do its
shareholders. The dynamic has created a
dangerous loop for the board, though.
Musk does something outrageous, Tesla suffers.
But if they push back, the situation could have gave in.
Worse, they fire him, the stock would completely crater, and if
they try to rein him in, he might walk away or retaliate.
No one on the board seems eager to challenge the one person who
makes their company worth what it is.
And at the same time, Musk's personal behavior raises serious
questions about his capacity to continue leading the company for
some people. His physical health is unclear,
he rarely sleep, and he has openly admitted to recreational
drug use. He has claimed, without
evidence, that he is the second most targeted individual for
assassination after Donald Trump.
And at public events, he has appeared distracted or
disoriented. It's not a stable foundation for
a multibillion dollar enterprise.
Now, Tesla's financials tell one story, but Musk's antics tell
another. Over the last year, Tesla stock
has generally trended upward. That might seem like
vindication, but the growth masks erratic dips.
The kind of instability that Musk brings to the brand can't
be priced in forever. At some point, the market may
stop giving him the benefit of the doubt.
And that can happen if his political entanglements grow
more toxic or if the public gets tired of his acts.
That was also the matter of government oversight.
When a Trump White House in power, Musk has enjoyed a
regulatory leniency. For instance, the administration
recently rolled back crash reporting requirements for
autonomous vehicles, a move that directly benefits Tesla.
But it's favorable treatment might not last.
If Democrats take back the House or win the presidency in 2028,
they could just decide to start investigating Tesla safety
record or Musk's use of political power for private
gain. Now.
That possibility alone should be enough for the board to consider
succession planning. It's not just politics that make
a transition plan necessary. Eventually, Musk will leave, one
way or another. He might get bored, and he might
move on and take all of his money with him.
And if Tesla doesn't have a plan in place for that moment, I
could face a crisis far more damaging than any single stock
drop. Now the question, of course, is
who could replace Elon Musk? Finding a new CEO isn't just
about business acumen or leadership skills.
It's about charisma. It's about who you are and how
you act. Tesla doesn't need a traditional
executive and needs someone who can keep that idea alive,
someone who can maintain investor enthusiasm even when
car sales are flat or when profit margins sink.
Now this put the board in a difficult situation.
Standard executive search firms may not be useful here.
Traditional CEO candidates are measured experience and
discipline. That's not actually what keeps
Tesla's stock inflated. The next leader has to be able
to generate buzz, to sell belief, to play the markets like
a showman. They need to be more like a
YouTube personality than a Fortune 500 veteran.
The board might be better off looking at figures like Ryan
Cohen, who led Gamestop's meme stock frenzy, or Adam Aaron of
AMC who once appeared in a viral video in his underwear to drive
up investor morale. Now, as absurd as that sounds,
it might actually be closer to a Tesla needs to survive in its
current form. Even social media provocateurs
like Cat Turd, which is right wing influencer, might make more
sense in this weird stock market reality than a veteran from
Ford. Now that's the real challenge.
Tesla has created a structure that depends on a person who
resists structure. Musk's unpredictability is the
foundation of the company's valuation.
Planning for his departure is like trying to blueprint a
wildfire. That paradox has led the board
to accommodate nearly every whim he's had over the years.
They've absorbed the risk because the reward has always
come. The math might change if Musk
continues to alienate one side. If the government starts
scrutinizing and moves, if the market turns on him more
permanently, the company could be left with no margin for
error. And without someone ready to
step in, Tesla may find itself stumbling in the dark.
Now, Tesla isn't just a company, isn't just Ford or Chevy or
whatever. It's one of the most visible
American manufacturers. The past decade help define the
electric vehicle movement and inspired a wave of competitors.
Now, if Tesla falters. The effects won't be limited to
shareholders, though. A weakened Tesla could shift
public perception of EVs themselves, delaying broader
adaptation. It also effects workers both at
Tesla and across its supply chains.
Thousands of jobs depend on the company's continued success.
If Musk's behavior starts triggering bigger financial
shocks, those jobs could disappear.
Communities that rely on Tesla's factories would feel the blow,
and suppliers would lose business.
Now the damage wouldn't stay contained.
That's why the board's refusal to be transparent about
succession planning isn't just a question about corporate drama.
It's a potential economic risk. Tesla's too large and too
central to the EV market to be led by someone who refused to
share the wheel. The board owes it to everyone
involved to take that seriously and to look around.
Tesla's future depends on more than one man's charisma, and the
board has a responsibility to prepare for the day when that
charisma no longer holds. Hey, thank you so much for
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