Elon Musk directs six companies, each valued at more than one billion dollars, and since January has also headed Doge, President Trump’s efforts to drastically reduce the federal government. How do you have time for all that? The short answer is that you don’t have it.
In some of its companies it has loyal and competent lieutenants, such as Gwynne Shotwell, president and director of Operations of Spacex, who is responsible for daily management. But that is not the case of Tesla, the manufacturer of electric vehicles that is quoted in the stock market, with a market capitalization of 770 billion dollars and that it has been the most valuable asset of Musk (although it is possible that Spacex now is worth more).
It is very unlikely, but if the richest person in the world decided suddenly to move away from their role as executive director of the Electric Vehicle Company, there is no obvious successor to lead it in this complicated moment, when sales are falling, its technological advantage in EV is threatened by Chinese competitors such as Byd and is lagging behind Waymo in the nascent business of Robotaxis.
As Tesla indicates in its risk disseminations before the SEC: “We depend largely on Elon Musk’s services, Tesla Technoking and our executive director. Although Mr. Musk spends a significant amount of time with Tesla and actively participates in our management, he does not dedicate all his time and attention to Tesla.”
So who could take command if the Tesla Board intervened and pressed it to resign as CEO? Who has the skills, experience and personality to help the company transform into the giant of artificial intelligence and robotics that Musk imagines?
The large companies that are quoted in the stock market usually have an extensive list of internal candidates prepared to assume the CEO position, managers who have shown that they are up to the challenge and that investors and analysts know well. That is not the case of Tesla, a company that Musk has dominated deeply in his 17 years as CEO and main shareholder since he bought his participation.
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In fact, Tesla does not have a president, Coo or EVP, and apart from its financial director, the highest rank executive after Musk is a single senior vice president. The group of possible successors is much smaller than in any other large automotive, manufacturing or technological company, partly because Musk has separated key figures such as Jerome Guillen, former president of automotive operations, or Doug Fields, a renowned Apple engineer who was fundamental to bring to the market the best selling models of Tesla, Model and and Model 3.
However, the next five people have qualities that make them viable replacements, without social networks trolling, grandiloquence and attention addiction for which Musk is known.
JB Straubel
After Musk himself, there is no other person more clearly trained to direct Tesla than JB Straubel, currently CEO and co -founder of the battery recycling company and manufacturing Redwood components materials, as well as a member of the Tesla Board.
Musk incorporated it as a co -founder in 2004, and it was its CTO until 2019, supervising the development of electric engines and battery packages in the first days of Tesla, in addition to launching its huge battery gigafactory in Nevada. As one of Tesla’s five co -founders and a member of the Board since 2023, Straubel, 49, intimately knows its history and all aspects of its operations.
While he and Musk shared an interest in electric vehicles since 2003, their personalities are very different. While Musk is expressive and prone to make exaggerated statements, Straubel, with Stanford engineering titles, is reserved, calm and enjoys talking about the details of the science of battery materials.
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“It’s perfect” for CEO position in Tesla, said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, who has publicly advocated by Musk’s resignation. “The action would rise.”
However, there are few signs that Straubel has an interest in the position, as it is more focused on Redwood’s growth, according to people familiar with the matter. He did not respond immediately to a request for comments.
Tom Zhu
Tom Zhu, the only senior vice president of Tesla, is the main automotive operations executive of the company after Musk and is based on China. He has also become his de facto coo, especially as Musk spends less time in Tesla.
Zhu, 44, demonstrated its importance to the company by supervising the construction and operation of its plant in Shanghai, which has been key to Tesla’s profitability since 2020. It joined in 2014 after several years in different roles in Kaibo Engineering Group, a Chinese civil engineering company. Its success by directing the Tesla business in China and its familiarity with that market, including its extensive base for supply of electric vehicles, will remain crucial active for the company and make it a competitive candidate to succeed Musk.
Native of China with a degree from the Technological University of Auckland in New Zealand and an MBA of Duke, Zhu is one of the only three executives of the company mentioned on the Tesla corporate website, together with Musk and Financial Director Vaibhav Taneja. He briefly moved to the US to help open the Austin Gigafactory, but last year he was sent back to China to reinforce the business there.
According to all reports, he is an efficient manager and the type of tireless worker that Musk likes, although he has maintained a very low public profile and is not well known to investors. Zhu did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
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Star there
Beyond the internal connoisseurs of Tesla, Stella Li, executive vice president of the automotive giant and BYD batteries and director of their operations in America, would be a convincing alternative to Musk.
Li, 55, has played a key role in the expansion of the International Automotive Business of Byd, particularly in the accelerated Latin America region. It is a figure recognized by analysts and investors in the US.
Graduated from the Fudan University of China, Li ascended in ByD since he joined as a marketing manager in 1996, a year after the company’s foundation, until he became one of its main executives. Located in Los Angeles for more than a decade, it is a charismatic and dynamic speaker that frequently represents Byd in international conferences on electric vehicles and climate change.
Although it would arrive in Tesla as a person outside the company, Byd is one of Tesla’s battery suppliers in China. His ties with Byd and his knowledge of the Chinese market would be greatly beneficial for Tesla, especially now that ByD prepares to launch its driving assistance technology “God’s Eye”-a competition of the Full Self-Driving system of Tesla-as a standard feature in its electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Li did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
John Krafcik
John Krafcik, former Waymo Executive Director, has a curriculum that makes it surprisingly adequate for the skill set that a Tesla leader needs.
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In addition to having led the Alphabet Inc. unit for more than six years and having led its transition from an R&D program to a transportation -generating transport service, it is currently part of the Rivian Administration Board, Rival de Tesla, as well as Daimler Truck in Germany in Germany.
Engineer formed in Stanford with an MBA of the MIT, Krafcik, 63, was one of the first engineers hired in New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (Nummi) in 1984, the joint plant operating Toyota and General Motors in Fremont, California. (Toyota sold it to Tesla in 2010, since then becoming its largest vehicle production plant in the US). Subsequently, he joined Ford, where he ascended until he became a chief engineer, before working at Hyundai Motor to help in the development of new models for USA, was CEO of Hyundai in the US, supervising a boom in sales for five years.
Although it is a stranger for Tesla, Krafcik is known by many investors, as well as automotive and auto parts companies worldwide. In addition, he has relationships with Chinese manufacturers thanks to his time in Waymo. Its experience in automotive engineering, manufacturing, product development, marketing and robotaxis covers many key areas that would benefit Tesla.
Krafcik declined to comment.
José Muñoz
Since he has just assumed a new position this year as CEO of Hyundai Motor, José Muñoz is a less likely candidate for the main position in Tesla, but his professional career makes it another intriguing external option.
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Becoming the first non -Korean to lead Hyundai – and also in its first CEO that is not part of the Chung family – it is a significant achievement. Before his current position, Muñoz, 59, was director of Global Operations of the Automotive, after having worked 15 years in Nissan, where he held the positions of Performance Director and President of Operations in North America. Your curriculum also includes five years in the European Unit of Toyota.
Out of China, Hyundai, together with its Kia Motors subsidiary, has established itself as one of Tesla’s electric vehicles with the most accelerated growth, launching multiple new and affordable models in the US. UU. And other markets in recent years. This month, Hyundai will also inaugurate its “metaplants” in Georgia, where it will manufacture electric vehicles, plug and hybrid hybrids, in addition to batteries, adjusting production according to market demand. A version of the Ioniq 5 Hatchback manufactured in this plant will also become a key piece of the Waymo electric robotaxis fleet.
“I’m very happy in Hyundai!” Muñoz told Forbes.
And although Musk is famous for introducing himself as a scientist, he is not really. Muñoz, on the other hand, has a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in Spain, in addition to an MBA.
Any of these people would be a solid CEO for Tesla. But even if Musk renounced that position, they would still have to deal with their enormous influence on the company, as well as the main shareholder as a member of the Board of Directors, which could make the position less attractive to the best candidates. And although Gerber believes that Tesla would be better with a new leader, it is not optimistic that that happens.
“The Board of Directors has done nothing to protect Elon’s company. There is no tim cook. There is no number 2,” he said. “If I simply get someone competent, it would be a great victory for everyone. But now everything is a matter of ego for Elon.”
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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