Published on October 29th (Editor ÕÔê»)Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm recently said that the company may be ready to appoint a new CEO from within if shareholders reject Elon Musk's compensation plan and lead to his resignation.

During an interview on Tuesday (October 28, local time), DeNorm said that in order to ensure an ¡°orderly transition, the most likely situation is to be taken over by an internal candidate,¡± but she did not rule out the possibility of selecting an external candidate.

Denom interviewed

Earlier this week, Denom sent a letter to shareholders warning that Tesla would lose Musk's talent and vision if he could step down as CEO if his 10-year compensation plan was not approved.

Last month, Tesla proposed a compensation plan with challenging phased goals. If all 12 goals can be completed, Musk will receive 12% of the stock, plus the current approximately 12.8%, and his shareholding ratio will increase to around 25%.

Musk wrote on social media that raising the shareholding to 25 percent was a balancing point ¡°both for ensuring strategic direction and not so much to be removed.¡± "If radical shareholders act together, they may kick me out of the company I founded."

Earlier, two well-known consulting firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, suggested that Tesla shareholders oppose Musk's remuneration scheme on grounds such as large amounts, lack of independence of the board of directors, and severe dilution of shareholders' holdings.

As next week's shareholder meeting approaches, Musk's prospects are gradually coming into focus. At present, the probability of passing the compensation plan is still high, but Denom warned that investors often vote at the last minute, and the company "cannot take it lightly".

Musk's prospects are gradually becoming the focus (data map)

DeNorm noted that the current situation remains uncertain because ¡°many passive investors (such as ETF investors) may directly follow the advice of these consulting firms, so we have to personally seek their support.¡±

Denom said: "I have talked directly to him (Musk) about this. If the compensation package fails to pass, I have no doubt that he is very likely to withdraw from company affairs or significantly reduce his involvement in Tesla's business.¡±

Denom revealed that if the vote fails, Tesla has prepared a "Plan B". The company has a strong management echelon, she particularly mentionedZhu Xiaotong(Tom Zhu) and others have rotated in multiple positions in the company, which is one of Tesla's strategies to deliberately cultivate internal talents.

DeNorm added that the company has ¡°a variety of possible options,¡± including a company managed by multiple people.

Extended reading

Make up again? Trump says relationship with Musk is "good" after months

From a public break this summer to a joint attendance at an event last month, how is the latest relationship between Musk, the world's richest man, and U.S. President Trump?

Trump told media this week in a presidential briefing that the two hadined ¡°sometimes¡± connections since attending the funeral of Arizona¡¯s conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month, describing their relationship as ¡°good.¡±

Trump said Musk's public confrontation with him was a "very stupid" moment in his life, but he himself "has always liked" Musk and said he may "always like him."

In the past few months, Musk has shifted to keeping a low profile in the political arena. Behind this shift is the commercial backlash from his high-profile political participation.According to a new working paper released this week by Yale University economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Tesla's sales in the U.S. market from October 2022 to 2025 could have increased by 67% to 83% during April, equivalent to approximately 1 million to 1.26 million more vehicles sold.

Trump and Musk were accused of having a quarrel in the White House (data map)

From Break to Reconciliation

As the largest individual donor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, Musk not only established the Super Political Action Committee (PAC) and donated a total of US$277 million, but also became the head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) after Trump took office. However, after the term of special government employee expired in May this year, although Musk expressed his willingness to stay in office, he was not approved by the White House.

Since then, relations between the two sides have deteriorated rapidly due to the "Big and Beautiful Act" pushed by Trump, and conflicts have broken out many times and political threats have been issued to each other. In July this year, Musk even announced plans to form a party called the "America Party" to fight against Republicans; in response, Trump used the government contract awarded to Musk's SpaceX as a bargaining chip.

The relationship between the two came to a turn on the 21st September commemoration of Charlie Kirk. On this event that attracted more than 90,000 participants, Musk sat alongside Trump. On the day of the event, Musk also posted a photo of Trump on social media with a tweet "For Charlie".

On October 27, Trump said in a special interview: ¡°At Charlie¡¯s tribute ceremony, Elon also came to the scene (I) and he was good, I liked Elon; I always liked him, everything was good.¡± he added: ¡°He was a good person and also a very capable person. I always liked him.¡± Trump described the split before the two as Musk¡¯s ¡°bad day,¡± and said: ¡°It was a very stupid moment in his (Musk¡¯s) life, really stupid.

Analysts believe that the resumption of Trump and Musk¡¯s friendly relations now could have political and financial implications for the mid-term elections in 2026 and a new round of presidential elections in 2028.As the owner of social media platform X, Musk remains one of the most influential voices in conservative media and has the ability to influence elections through large donations.

Re-focused on career

According to the latest research from Yale University, Musk's previous increasingly partisan behavior has directly affected Tesla's sales, and his political stance has led to the gradual alienation of environmentally-inclined Democratic buyers, the core customer group in Tesla's history. The brand. As Democratic supporters switched to other brands, sales of electric and hybrid vehicles of Tesla's rivals increased by about 17% to 22%.

However, reports show that Musk hasn't returned to Washington since May, with more private flights to Texas, San Francisco Bay Area and Vancouver, Canada, where his subsidiary is headquartered and where his brain interface company Neuralink is being tested.

As Musk shifted the company¡¯s strategic focus to the field of robotic taxis, autonomous driving technology and human robots, the public¡¯s feelings about Tesla have risen slightly.Robyn Denholm, chairman of Tesla¡¯s board of directors, said recently that the outside world¡¯s view of Musk¡¯s involvement in government affairs is slowing down.

Dan Ives, a tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, said: ¡°What you see now is a completely different Musk from the dark days of the Trump administration, when Tesla suffered brand damage, and he also shifted his attention from work.

At the moment, Tesla¡¯s share price has rebounded to $460.55, more than doubling from its April low of $220, and the company¡¯s market value reached $1.44 trillion. ¡°I think the share price has reflected that Tesla¡¯s biggest asset is Musk.¡±

Tesla¡¯s third quarter earnings report released on October 22 further confirmed the company¡¯s recovery trend, with its third quarter revenue reaching $28.1 billion, up 12% above Wall Street¡¯s expectations, and ending its previous two-quarter downturn. However, the company¡¯s net profit fell 37% due to price reduction strategies and massive investments with AI and ¡°other R&D projects.¡±