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March 22, 2025
The electrical automobile corporate is suffering as anti-Musk sentiment sparks boycotts and protests. It’s not really to occur, however who may step in if he relinquished the “TechnoKing” CEO reins?
Tesla boss Elon Musk. {Photograph} by means of Martin Schoeller; Photograph Representation by means of Jamel Toppin for Forbes
Elon Musk runs six firms, every valued in far more than $1 billion, and because January has additionally spearheaded DOGE, President Trump’s efforts to radically downsize the government. How does he have time for all of it? The quick solution is he doesn’t. At a few of his firms he has unswerving and competent lieutenants, like SpaceX’s President and COO Gwynne Shotwell working issues day by day. However that’s now not true at Tesla, the publicly traded EV maker with a marketplace cap of $770 billion, that’s been Musk’s most beneficial asset (regardless that SpaceX would possibly now be price extra).
It’s extremely not likely, but when the sector’s wealthiest individual have been to make a decision to step again from his CEO position on the EV maker, there’s no glaring successor to steer the corporate at this difficult juncture, when gross sales are falling, its EV tech edge is threatened by means of Chinese language competition like BYD and it trails Waymo within the rising robotaxi trade.
As Tesla places it in SEC possibility disclosures: “We’re extremely dependent at the services and products of Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla and our Leader Govt Officer. Even if Mr. Musk spends important time with Tesla and is extremely lively in our control, he does now not dedicate his complete time and a focus to Tesla.”
“Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk. Any individual else would exchange the entire tale.”
Dan Ives
If he did step down, it will cause a fair larger selloff of Tesla stocks than the 50% slide that’s befell in contemporary months. A lot of the corporate’s price–a long way better than some other carmaker’s and 118 occasions its profits–is tied to Musk’s personality as a trade visionary. “Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk,” Dan Ives, a bullish Tesla analyst for Wedbush, advised Forbes. “Any individual else would exchange the entire tale.”
So who may take over, if Tesla’s board have been to interfere and push him to step down as CEO? Who has the talents, background and temperament to lend a hand it transition into the AI and robotics massive Musk envisions?
Large public firms normally have a deep bench of in-house CEO applicants ready within the wings, managers who’ve confirmed they’re up for the process and who buyers and analysts are acquainted with. That’s now not the case at Tesla, which Musk has so profoundly ruled in his 17 years as CEO and height shareholder since he purchased into it. In truth, it has no president, COO or EVP, and except its CFO, the highest-ranking govt beneath Musk is a unmarried senior vp. The successor pool is a long way, a long way smaller than at some other massive auto, production or tech corporate–partly as a result of Musk has driven out stars similar to Jerome Guillen, former president of car operations, or Doug Fields, a famed Apple engineer who was once key to getting Tesla’s top-selling Fashion Y and Fashion 3 to marketplace.
However the next 5 other people have qualities that cause them to viable replacements–with out the social media trolling, bombast and a focus habit Musk is understood for.
JB Straubel
After Musk himself, no different person is extra obviously suited to steer Tesla than JB Straubel, lately CEO and cofounder of battery recycler and elements maker Redwood Fabrics and a Tesla board member.
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Musk introduced him in as a cofounder in 2004, and he was once its CTO till 2019, overseeing the advance of its electrical motors and battery packs in Tesla’s earliest days and getting its huge battery Gigafactory in Nevada up and working. As one among Tesla’s 5 cofounders and a board member since 2023, Straubel, 49, is in detail acquainted with its historical past and all facets of its operations.
“He’s highest. The inventory would rally.”
Ross Gerber
Whilst he and Musk first bonded over a shared pastime in electrical automobiles in 2003, they’ve very other personalities. The place Musk is voluble and liable to exaggerated claims, Straubel, with engineering levels from Stanford, is low-key, calm and enjoys discussing the intricacies of battery subject matter science.
“He’s highest” for the Tesla CEO position, stated Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Funding Control, who has publicly advocated for Musk to surrender. “The inventory would rally.”
There’s little indication the process holds pastime for Straubel, on the other hand, who’s extra desirous about increase Redwood, consistent with other people acquainted with the topic. He didn’t in an instant reply to a request for remark.
Tom Zhu
Tom Zhu, Tesla’s handiest senior vp, is the carmaker’s height govt for car operations beneath Musk and is primarily based in China. He’s additionally turn out to be its de facto COO, in particular as Musk spends much less of his time on the carmaker.
VCG by the use of Getty Pictures
Zhu, 44, established his significance to the corporate by means of overseeing the development and operation of its Shanghai plant that’s turn out to be necessary to Tesla’s profitability since 2020. He joined in 2014 after a number of years in a lot of roles with Kaibo Engineering Team, a Chinese language civil engineering corporate. Zhu’s good fortune main Tesla’s Chinese language trade and his familiarity with that marketplace, together with its huge EV provide base, will proceed to be a the most important asset as the corporate works to stick aggressive and winning there—and makes him a aggressive candidate to be Musk’s successor.
A Chinese language local with an undergraduate level from New Zealand’s Auckland College of Era and an MBA from Duke, Zhu is one among handiest 3 corporate executives indexed on Tesla’s company site, together with Musk and CFO Vaibhav Taneja. He in short shifted to the U.S. to lend a hand open the Austin Gigafactory however was once despatched again to China remaining 12 months to strengthen trade there.
By way of all accounts, he’s an efficient supervisor and the type of workaholic Musk likes, regardless that he’s stored an overly low public profile and isn’t well known to buyers. Zhu didn’t in an instant reply to a request for remark.
Stella Li
Past Tesla insiders, Stella Li, govt vp of car and battery massive BYD and head of its operations within the Americas, would make a compelling Musk choice.
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Li, 55, has performed a key position in serving to BYD increase its world auto trade, in particular in fast-growing Latin The us. She’s a recognized participant to U.S. analysts and buyers, having made lists together with Time Mag’s Time 100 Local weather Leaders and Global Automobile Individual of the 12 months.
A graduate of China’s Fudan College, she labored her means up at BYD since becoming a member of as a advertising supervisor in 1996, a 12 months after the corporate’s founding, to turn out to be one among its height executives. Primarily based in Los Angeles for greater than a decade, Li is a charismatic and dynamic speaker, steadily representing BYD at world EV and local weather meetings.
Although she’d come to Tesla as an intruder, BYD is one of the corporate’s battery providers in China. Her BYD ties and familiarity with the Chinese language marketplace could be massively recommended to Tesla, in particular as BYD prepares to start providing its “God’s Eye” driving force lend a hand generation–a competitor to Tesla’s Complete Self-Using gadget–as a regular characteristic on its EVs and plug-in hybrids.
Li didn’t in an instant reply to a request for remark.
John Krafcik
John Krafcik, Waymo’s former CEO, has a resume that makes him strangely well-suited to the variety of talents a Tesla leader would wish.
2018 Getty Pictures
Along with working the Alphabet Inc. unit for over six years and main its shift from an R&D program to a revenue-generating experience provider, he lately serves at the board of Tesla rival Rivian, in addition to Germany’s Daimler Truck.
A Stanford-trained engineer with an MBA from MIT, Krafcik, 63, was once one of the crucial first engineers employed at New United Motor Production Inc., or NUMMI, in 1984, the joint-venture plant Toyota and Normal Motors operated in Fremont, California. (It was once bought to Tesla by means of Toyota in 2010, turning into its biggest U.S. car manufacturing facility ever since.) He later joined Ford, emerging to the position of leader engineer, ahead of going to paintings for Hyundai Motor to lend a hand it expand new U.S. fashions. He in the end served because the South Korean corporate’s U.S. CEO, overseeing a five-year gross sales growth.
Although he’s a Tesla outsider, Krafcik is acquainted to many buyers in addition to world auto and portions firms and has relationships with Chinese language automakers due to his time at Waymo. His background in auto engineering, production, product building and advertising, in addition to robotaxis, ticks many packing containers that would receive advantages Tesla. Krafcik declined to remark.
José Muñoz
For the reason that he simply began a brand new process this 12 months as Hyundai Motor’s CEO, José Muñoz is a much less most probably candidate for Tesla’s height place, however his skilled background makes the Spaniard some other intriguing outsider possibility.
AFP by the use of Getty Pictures
Changing into the primary non-Korean to steer Hyundai–and in addition its first CEO who’s now not a part of its founding Chung circle of relatives–is a big accomplishment. Sooner than his present process, Muñoz, 59, was once the carmaker’s world COO, after 15 years with Nissan, the place he’d been leader efficiency officer and chairman of North American operations. His resume additionally features a five-year stint with Toyota’s Ecu unit.
“I’m more than pleased at Hyundai!”
José Muñoz
Outdoor of China, Hyundai, in conjunction with associate Kia Motors, has confirmed itself to be one among Tesla’s fastest-growing EV competitors, bringing more than one new, reasonably priced fashions to the U.S. and different markets lately. This month, Hyundai additionally opens its “Metaplant” in Georgia, the place it is going to make EVs, plug-in hybrids and hybrids, in addition to batteries, flexing between fashions which can be maximum in call for out there. A model of the Ioniq 5 hatchback constructed on the plant may even turn out to be a big new a part of Waymo’s electrical robotaxi fleet.
“I’m more than pleased at Hyundai!” Muñoz advised Forbes.
And whilst Musk is legendary for presenting himself as a scientist, he isn’t one. Muñoz, against this, has a PhD in nuclear engineering from Spain’s Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, along with an MBA.
Any of those other people would make cast Tesla CEOs. However even supposing Musk have been to surrender that process, they’d nonetheless must contend together with his large affect over the corporate, each as a height shareholder and board member, making the process doubtlessly much less interesting to the most productive applicants. And whilst Gerber believes Tesla could be with a brand new chief, he’s now not positive that may occur.
“The board of administrators has accomplished not anything to give protection to the corporate from Elon. There’s no Tim Cook dinner. There’s no quantity 2,” he stated. “If he simply will get someone who’s competent, it’s a large win for everyone. However it’s all ego for Elon now.”
