Tesla

About a month ago, with Tesla’s TSLA -0.58%decrease; red down pointing triangle stock sinking and some investors irritated about Elon Musk’s White House focus, Tesla’s board got serious about looking for Musk’s successor.

Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions. 

Tensions had been mounting at the company. Sales and profits were deteriorating rapidly. Musk was spending much of his time in Washington.

Elon Musk on Thursday blasted The Wall Street Journal over a report that Tesla’s board of directors is looking to recruit a new chief executive to replace the billionaire in the top job.

The Journal on Wednesday reported that “about a month ago” Tesla’s board started reaching out to recruiting firms to formalize a process to find a new CEO. The company continues to face massive challenges as evidenced by its disastrous first-quarter earnings.

Tesla and Elon Musk are pushing back against a report claiming the company’s board launched a search for a successor to the mercurial CEO last month as he spent time away from the company leading President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that the board had reached out to executive search firms to initiate a formal process to identify potential replacements for Musk as the electric car maker grapples with slowing sales, shrinking profits and a bruising year on the stock market.

Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk told Tesla shareholders on Tuesday that he’s planning to dramatically cut back on his work for the Trump administration next month. 

“Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla,” the electric car company CEO said on Tesla earnings call, according to Business Insider. 

Tesla boss Elon Musk has pledged to "significantly" cut back his role in the US government after the electric car firm reported a huge drop in profit and sales for the start of this year.

Musk has led the newly created advisory body - the Department for Government Efficiency (Doge) - since last year, putting the world's richest man at the heart of cutting US spending and jobs.

But Musk said his "time allocation to Doge" would "drop significantly" from next month, adding he would spend only one to two days per week on it after accusations he has taken his focus off Tesla.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he’d be reducing his time with the Department of Government Efficiency beginning next month after the company reported disappointing earnings, missing Wall Street expectations.

Musk said in a Tuesday earnings call that he would begin stepping back from his Trump administration role next month and return his focus to his ailing EV brand.

He added that the ongoing Tesla blowback, consisting of nationwide protests and violent vehicle attacks, left him with two options: Let the government’s waste and fraud continue or fight it.

Elon Musk has vowed to spend “significantly” less time working for Donald Trump’s administration and focus on Tesla after profits plummeted to a five-year low.

The electric car company’s net income slumped by 71pc to $409m in the three months to the end of March, marking its least profitable quarter since 2020.

Tesla's (TSLA.O), opens new tab market share in Europe continued to shrink year-on-year in February, data showed on Tuesday, as sales of the all-electric car maker dropped for a second month despite rising EV registrations overall on the continent.

As competition grows and a slowdown in European economies hampers total car sales, Elon Musk's battery-electric (BEV) brand has sold 42.6% fewer cars in Europe so far this year, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed.

BYD, the Chinese EV giant, passed a significant milestone on Monday: it overtook Elon Musk’s Tesla in annual revenue. BYD generated 777.1 billion yuan ($107.1 billion) in annual revenue, up 29%. Not only is that past the $100 billion threshold, it’s greater than Tesla’s 2024 revenue of $97.7 billion.

Chinese automaker BYD reported annual revenue of 777 billion yuan ($107 billion) for 2024, leapfrogging U.S. rival Tesla as competition between the two electric vehicle rivals heats up.

In a filing published Monday, BYD posted a 29% increase in revenue from the previous year, bolstered by sales of its hybrid vehicles. This figure exceeded the $97.7 billion annual revenue reported by Elon Musk’s Tesla.