An obsession with newly-acquired social media platform Twitter – and a plunging share price of Tesla – have prompted calls for Elon Musk to step down as CEO of the electric-car company.
Tesla could be led by a new chief executive officer – if company investors get their way.
Following Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of social media platform Twitter, a number of prominent Tesla investors have expressed their frustration at his alleged lack of involvement in the electric-car company in recent months.
KoGuan Leo, who is understood to be the third-largest individual shareholder of Tesla, wrote in a tweet that Mr Musk “abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO”.
“Tesla needs and deserves to have [a] working full-time CEO,” he said.
“As his fanboy, I invested [in Tesla because] of Elon. Of course, I prefer Elon to be CEO but he abandoned Tesla,” Mr KoGuan wrote in another social media post.
Along with Mr Musk’s new role at Twitter, some are citing the poor performance of Tesla stock – which has dropped by approximately 60 per cent this year – as justification for a new CEO to be installed at the electric-car specialist.
Mr Musk has sold nearly $US40 billion ($AU60 billion) of Tesla stock over the past 14 months, according to Business Insider, with the company’s share price plunging to a two-year low after a 6 per cent drop during Tuesday trading.
Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO
— KoGuan Leo (@KoguanLeo) December 14, 2022
Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO
What Tesla BOD should do, do nothing? Elon will find his own successor under BOD independent supervision https://t.co/AJSvij9ncP
“If it continues to drop this hard, then you’re going to end up with activist investors getting in, and those activist investors are going to push to get onto the board and then to put pressure on Musk — or even to maybe kick Musk off as CEO,” former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos said on an episode of the Moderated Content podcast this week.
In recent days, a majority of respondents voted for Mr Musk to step down as the head of Twitter, after he polled his 122.3 million social media followers – later posting “be careful what you wish, as you might get it”.
Last month, Tesla board member James Murdoch testified in court Mr Musk had identified a successor – with some media reports pointing to Tesla China President Tom Zhu Xiaotong as the electric car-maker’s next CEO.
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