Austin, Texas - Tesla hit back at reports claiming that its board considered ousting Elon Musk and finding a replacement due to his damaging effect on stocks and profit.

A Wall Street Journal report said that Teslas board members reached out to several executive search firms to begin the process of finding a new CEO.

Tensions at the company have reportedly been rising over Elon Musk's work for President Donald Trump, who place him in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

As a result of a massive backlash against Musk's firing of tens of thousands of federal workers and dismantling of key government agencies, Tesla saw a 71% drop in profits during 2025's first quarter and massive protests targeting dealerships.

Celebrities Rachel Zegler scores next starring role after Snow White!

Despite Musk's announcement that he would be "allocating far more of my time to Tesla" starting in May, and his gradual separation from DOGE, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla's board had started narrowing down possible successors.

But early on Thursday morning, the company issued a statement denying the WSJ story.

"Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company," said Robyn Denholm, chairman of the Tesla's board of directors.

"This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published. The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead."

Musk also hit out at the article, calling it "DELIBERATELY FALSE" and "an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS" in a furious X post.