Tesla is really looking for a new CEO?

The Tesla board of directors are reportedly asking CEO, Elon Musk, to focus on the company, while some are suggesting to replace him with someone new.

WSJ reported that Tesla board members last month reached out to several executive search firms to look for a successor for Musk, citing people familiar with the matter. There’s no clarification on the outcome of these meetings and what the board has decided for Musk.

This report comes at a time when Tesla is facing immense market heat, opposition from Musk’s critics, and falling sales and profit.

At Q1 2025 earning call, Tesla’s first quarter profit declined by a whopping 71% amid boycott calls in opposition to Musk’s involvement in White House policies under Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk has freelanced to lead DOGE as a special government employee, and the program was set for 130 days after Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration. This timeline will be ending by the end of May.

During the conference call, Musk said that he will be allocating more time at Tesla than running DOGE, mentioning “now that the major work of establishing DOGE is done”.

In Q1, Tesla reported $19.34 billion total revenue, with a 9 percent decline of year-over-year from $21.3 billion a year earlier. The automotive revenue, which is a big contributor to Tesla’s sales, saw a major drop of 20% to $14 billion in Q1 2025 from $17.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

However, its energy business has seen growth, increasing from $1.64 billion to $2.73 billion. The EV maker’s net income plummeted 71% to $409 million from $1.39 billion in the past year for the same quarter and an 80.78% decline from Q4 2024.

Musk is now weighing on affordable models, which he expects to release this year and mass-produced for the global market to improve sales. On the other hand, Tesla’s robotaxi project is set to takeoff in the Summer from Texas, and it’s likely to open a new business front for the company.

Still, if the Tesla board is determined to remove Musk from his CEO chair, then it may have a negative impact on Tesla stock, as well as new projects that he had been working on.