Tesla board member says Elon Musk identified potential successor as CEO

James Murdoch, a Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) director, testified in court on Wednesday that CEO Elon Musk has in the last few months identified someone as a potential successor to head the electric carmaker, Reuters reported.
Murdoch, who did not name the potential successor, was testifying in a trial over Musk’s 2018 Tesla pay package.
When a plaintiff’s lawyer asked him to confirm that Musk has never identified someone as a potential successor CEO, Murdoch said, “He actually has,” adding that happened in the “last few months.”
Some Tesla investors are worried about whether Musk can focus adequately on his role as CEO of the world’s most valuable carmaker now that he has been running Twitter Inc after a protracted buyout that at one point he tried to scrap. Murdoch testified that Musk has had some Tesla engineers work at Twitter, a situation the board is monitoring.
Murdoch’s testimony did not make it clear how specific the conversation about the successor was. Antonio Gracias, a longtime friend of Musk who was also a Tesla board member from 2007 to 2021, testified that there were conversations of finding an “administrative CEO” who oversees sales, finance and human resources “so Musk can focus his time as chief product officer which is his most vital function.” But he added they could not find one, without elaborating on the timing of the discussions.
Musk, who is CEO of Twitter and rocket company Space X, among others said, “Frankly I don’t want to be CEO of any company.”
Musk testified that he expected to reduce his time at Twitter and eventually find a new leader to run the social media company.