Elon Musk denied he’ll be replaced by James Murdoch as Tesla’s chairman, an alleged shakeup that was the subject of rumors on Wednesday.
Murdoch, who’s due to end his stint as 21st Century Fox’s CEO, was named in a Financial Times report as the lead candidate to succeed Musk, according to two sources who spoke with the newspaper.
Musk remarked simply that the report was “incorrect” on Twitter.
Just in: James Murdoch has become the lead candidate to replace Elon Musk as Tesla's chairman https://t.co/o2XubMENvk pic.twitter.com/ezMH3QOPiK
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) October 10, 2018
The younger son of media mogul Rupert, Murdoch also serves as a director on Tesla’s board, where he has done so since 2017.
As part of Musk’s settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over his tweet announcing a plan to take Tesla private at $420 a share — which some assumed was a weed-related wink, although Musk denies that, too — he’s coughed up $20 million as a penalty. Additionally, he’s relinquishing his chairmanship of Tesla, where he’ll sit out for three years, but remain CEO.
Tesla’s search is very much on for a new chairman, with Bloomberg reporting that names like former Vice President Al Gore, Jim McNerney of Boeing, and Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Company have been floated as potential candidates.
Elon Reeve Musk FRS is a business magnate and investor. He holds South African, Canadian, and U.S. citizenship and is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; co-founder and CEO of Neuralink; and co-founder of PayPal.