Tesla board member James Murdoch testified yesterday at a Tesla shareholder’s lawsuit. He made an intriguing remark about the CEO’s potential replacement at Tesla, saying that Musk already had a candidate in mind, as reported by Electrek.
Tesla shareholder’s lawsuit
Musk’s takeover of Twitter raises the odds that he will lose his position as CEO of the leading automaker Tesla. In fact, his $54 billion compensation package is currently being litigated.
An investor filed a lawsuit against the automaker on the grounds that Tesla does not need to keep Musk on board. In addition, they have reservations about Musk’s influence over the Tesla board of directors when the incentive package was authorized.
James Murdoch claimed in his earlier deposition that Musk never raised a prospective successor for his position as CEO of Tesla. That changed yesterday when he alleged that the CEO had since suggested a potential replacement.
Unfortunately, Murdoch did not identify the individual but did imply that Musk had spoken about them recently.
Speculations
Herbert Diess reportedly received a CEO offer from Tesla before accepting the position at Volkswagen. Diess recently departed Volkswagen, but he has not revealed his upcoming endeavor. It is important to note that he is a seasoned auto industry executive reputed to get along well with Musk.
Furthermore, CFO Zach Kirkhorn and SVP Powertrain and Energy Engineering Drew Baglino are potential internal successors.