Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Find mom's best gift at Target. Now through Mother's Day, get up to 40% off gifts for her. Discover trendy apparel and swimwear that'll elevate any wardrobe. Jewelry that'll make her smile shine brighter, and even chocolate that'll turn any moment into something sweeter. There are endless options to choose from to show her she's the best. Hurry, save 20 to 40% on select apparel, jewelry, chocolates, and more this Mother's Day only at Target. Restrictions apply.
Make your next move with American Express Business Platinum. Earn five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com. And with a welcome offer of 150,000 points after you spend $20,000 on purchases on the card within your first three months of membership, your business can soar to new heights. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash business dash platinum. Amex Business Platinum. Built for business by American Express.
Here's your report. Thanks, Jane. I wish I could hire a whole team of yous. Try posting a job on LinkedIn. It's the world's largest professional network. Unlike resumes, LinkedIn gives a real-time view into a candidate's skills, experiences, and more. Let's do it. You're irreplaceable, Jane, but another you would be great. Find your perfect match with LinkedIn. Post your free job at linkedin.com slash achieve. That's linkedin.com slash achieve. Terms and conditions apply.
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast. I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you. Over the next two weeks, we're evolving. We'll be broadening our focus to cover all the tech titans shaping our world. You'll still get the latest insights on Elon Musk, plus so much more. So stay tuned for our official relaunch coming soon. Now let's get into this episode.
Tesla's stock price fell nearly 25% in the first four months of 2025. Investors watching the slide wonder whether the company has a plan if its CEO Elon Musk leaves or if he stays and keeps doing damage. Last Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla's board had reached out to multiple executive search firms to start building a shortlist of potential successors. And according to the story, at least some Tesla directors were excited
we're exploring how to replace Elon Musk. And that revelation lit a match under a question that's been quietly simmering for years. What is Tesla without Elon Musk?
Now, the report created immediate tension inside Tesla's leadership. Hours after publication, Tesla board chair Robin Dunham posted a denial on X. She said the journal was erroneously claiming that Tesla's board had contacted recruiters for a CEO search. They said, this is absolutely false.
Denholm added that this clarification had been sent to the press before the story even ran, but her statement left room for interpretation. She denied action from the Tesla board, but not that any individual directors may have reached out on their own. Now, this ambiguity fuels an already pressing concern.
If Tesla's leadership hasn't begun considering what life looks like after Musk, they're running blind into a critical future. Elon Musk is both Tesla's greatest asset and its most unpredictable liability. The stock's performance is still buoying, but his presence is known. But increasingly, his personal behavior is dragging the company into vital territory.
Now, Musk has shifted from tech mogul to political combatant. He's become a loud voice for far-right causes, openly supporting Donald Trump, publicly criticizing the federal government, and antagonizing Democratic officials. The shift has turned off many of Tesla's most likely buyers, liberal, climate-focused consumers who prefer clean energy and efficient transport to libertarian rhetoric. Now, these political stunts have cost Tesla more than just goodwill, though.
they've hit the bottom line. Car sales are slowing, investors are getting nervous, and the people more responsible for maintaining faith in Tesla's brand is too often making headlines for everything but the business. And at a time when EV market is tightening and competition is getting tougher and all the tariffs that are happening, Tesla is still trading at a stock valuation wildly out of sync with its actual sales performance.
And the core problem for Tesla's board is that Elon Musk is the reason the company's stock trades at levels other automakers could only dream of. Now, as of this week, Tesla's price to earnings ratio hovers around 167. That's more than 20 times what General Motors trades at. Now, Musk has managed to sell the idea that Tesla isn't just a carmaker. It's an avatar for the future.
The illusion keeps the stock inflated, and that illusion depends entirely on Musk continuing to project a vision people believe in.
It's not new, though. Four years ago, a business school professor described Tesla to us as the mother of all meme stocks. The stock's performance has always relied more on Musk's cult of personality than the company's fundamentals. Tesla often behaves more like a social media phenomenon than a stable manufacturing business. And retail investors treat Musk like a prophet, not just a CEO. As long as he stays loud and provocative, a portion of the market stays loyal.
But that loyalty has its limits. When Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and turned it into a political and cultural way to speak his mind, Tesla's shares took a hit. When he launched his Department of Government Efficiency, the stock dropped again. Public trust in Musk isn't constant. It wobbles depending on how extreme his latest move is. When those wobbles turn into sharp downturns, Tesla pays the price and so do its shareholders.
The dynamic has created a dangerous loop for the board, though. Musk does something outrageous. Tesla suffers. But if they push back, the situation could have given worse. They fire him. The stock would completely crater. And if they try to rein him in, he might walk away or retaliate.
No one on the board seems eager to challenge the one person who makes their company worth what it is. And at the same time, Musk's personal behavior raises serious questions about his capacity to continue leading the company for some people.
His physical health is unclear. He rarely sleeps and he has openly admitted to recreational drug use. He has claimed without evidence that he is the second most targeted individual for assassination after Donald Trump. And at public events, he has appeared distracted or disoriented. It's not a stable foundation for a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Now, Tesla's financials tell one story, but Musk's antics tell another. Over the last year, Tesla stock has generally trended upward. That might seem like vindication, but the growth masks erratic dips. The kind of instability that Musk brings to the brand can't be priced in forever. At some point, the market may stop giving him the benefit of the doubt. That can happen if his political entanglements grow more toxic or if the public gets tired of his acts.
Anyone can follow. It takes something special to be an original, which is why the 2025 Lincoln Navigator SUV arrives with new ways of surrounding you in luxury, including the ultra-wide 48-inch panoramic display and the multi-sensory Lincoln Rejuvenate experience. A true original never stops evolving. So meet the 2025 Navigator, the original that's all new and better than ever. Learn more at Lincoln.com. Lincoln and Navigator are trademarks of Ford or its affiliates.
Toyota is the best resale value brand for 2025, according to kellybluebookskbb.com. And with a wide range of dependable vehicles for any lifestyle, you can get everything you need in a vehicle today while investing in tomorrow. So choose Toyota and choose value. Shop via toyota.com for great deals and more. Vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2025 model year. For more information, visit kellybluebookskbb.com. Kelly Blue Book is a registered trademark of Kelly Blue Book Co. Inc.
Toyota, let's go places. Now, there's also the matter of government oversight. When a Trump went house in power, Musk has enjoyed a regulatory leniency. For instance, the administration recently rolled back crash reporting requirements for autonomous vehicles, a move that directly benefits Tesla. But this favorable treatment might not last. If Democrats take back the House or win the presidency in 2028,
They could just decide to start investigating Tesla's safety record or Musk's use of political power for private gain. Now, that possibility alone should be enough for the board to consider succession planning.
It's not just politics that make a transition plan necessary. Eventually, Musk will leave. One way or another, he might get bored and he might move on and take all of his money with him. And if Tesla doesn't have a plan in place for that moment, it could face a crisis far more damaging than any single stock drop. Now, the question, of course, is who could replace Elon Musk?
Finding a new CEO isn't just about business acumen or leadership skills. It's about charisma. It's about who you are and how you act. Tesla doesn't need a traditional executive. It needs someone who can keep that idea alive. Someone who can maintain investor enthusiasm even when car sales are flat or when profit margins sink. Now, this put the board in a difficult situation. Standard executive search firms may not be useful here. Traditional CEO candidates are measured
experience, and discipline. That's not actually what keeps Tesla's stock inflated. The next leader has to be able to generate buzz, to sell belief, to play the markets like a showman. They need to be more like a YouTube personality than a Fortune 500 veteran. The board might be better off looking at figures like Ryan Cohen, who led GameStop's meme stock frenzy, or Adam Aaron of AMC, who once appeared in a viral video in his underwear to drive up investor morale.
Now, as absurd as that sounds, it might actually be closer to what Tesla needs to survive in its current form. Even social media provocateurs like Cat Turd, which is a right-wing influencer, might make more sense in this weird stock market reality than a veteran from Ford.
Now that's the real challenge. Tesla has created a structure that depends on a person who resists structure. Musk's unpredictability is the foundation of the company's valuation. Planning for his departure is like trying to blueprint a wildfire. That paradox has led the board to accommodate nearly every whim he's had over the years. They've absorbed the risk because the reward has always come.
But the math might change if Musk continues to alienate one side. If the government starts scrutinizing his moves, if the market turns on him more permanently, the company could be left with no margin for error. And without someone ready to step in, Tesla may find itself stumbling in the dark.
Now, Tesla isn't just a company, isn't this Ford or Chevy or whatever? It's one of the most visible American manufacturers the past decade. Help define the electric vehicle movement and inspired a wave of competitors. Now, if Tesla falters, the effects won't be limited to shareholders, though. A weakened Tesla could shift public perception of EVs themselves, delaying broader adaptation.
And it also affects workers, both at Tesla and across its supply chains. Thousands of jobs depend on the company's continued success. If Musk's behavior starts triggering bigger financial shocks, those jobs could disappear. Communities that rely on Tesla's factories would feel the blow, and suppliers would lose business. Now the damage wouldn't stay contained.
At Sephora, we've got what you want. Because you're obsessed with your skin, and we're obsessed with what it needs. Sephora has the best products to help you get beautiful, glowing, radiant skin. With an extensive, inclusive range of results-driven formulas and in-store beauty advisors to help you find exactly which are right for you, the best skincare is only at Sephora. Sephora. For all your skincare.
That's why the board's refusal to be transparent about succession planning isn't just a question about corporate drama. It's a potential economic risk. Tesla's too large and too central to the EV market to be led by someone who refuses to share the wheel.
The board owes it to everyone involved to take that seriously and to look around. Tessa's future depends on more than one man's charisma, and the board has a responsibility to prepare for the day when that charisma no longer holds.
Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support. If you could take a second and hit subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening on right now, I'd greatly appreciate it. It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never miss an episode. And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you caught up quickly. And please, if you want to support the show even more, go to patreon.com slash stage zero.
And please take care of yourselves and each other, and I'll see you tomorrow.