Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) board members last month reached out to several executive search firms to look for a successor for CEO Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Musk’s Lieutenant, Tom Zhu, aka Zhu Xiaotong, has been named as a possible replacement. He is Chinese-born and the President of Tesla China. According to reports, Zhu is an ideal candidate to succeed Musk due to his remarkable record and in-depth knowledge of Tesla’s operations.
Tesla investor Ross Gerber, the CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, told Newsweek it’s time for the Tesla board to remove Musk as CEO in a phone interview Thursday evening.
Gerber owns more than 250,000 shares of Tesla stock, which was valued at $248.71 per share at close on Friday.
When asked if Musk should be removed as the CEO of the leading electric car manufacturer, Geber responded “absolutely,” adding that the board should not have even let him purchase Twitter, now X, without appointing another person to lead Tesla.
“Why has the board of directors sat quietly while so much brand value has been eroded to the point that cars are being set on fire?” he said. “It’s been wildly negligent that the board has done nothing to curb Elon’s behavior, especially around extremist statements.”
Still, he cast doubt that Musk would be removed by the board, which he says “solely functions at the benefit of Elon” and has been “highly compensated” by Musk.
“They’re not going to do anything he doesn’t say,” Gerber said.
For years, he said, Tesla had a “very high premium” attached to its brand because of Musk’s leadership, but that the CEO has now become “detrimental to the company” and has caused the stock to drop.
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