Here's 5 People Who Could Run Tesla Better Than Elon Musk

Forbes

The electric car company is struggling as anti-Musk sentiment sparks boycotts and protests. It’s not likely to happen, but who could step in if he relinquished the “TechnoKing” CEO reins?  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/03/21/five-people-who-could-run-tesla-better-than-elon-musk/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, five people who could run Tesla better than Elon Musk.

00:07Elon Musk runs six companies, each valued in excess of $1 billion, and since January

00:13has also spearheaded DOGE, President Trump's efforts to radically downsize the federal

00:18government.

00:19How does he have time for it all?

00:21The short answer is he doesn't.

00:24At some of his companies he has loyal and competent lieutenants, like SpaceX's president

00:28and COO Gwynne Shotwell, running things day to day.

00:32But that's not true at Tesla, the publicly traded EV maker with a market cap of $770

00:38billion.

00:39It's highly unlikely, but if the world's wealthiest person were to suddenly decide

00:44to step back from his CEO role at the EV maker, there's no obvious successor to

00:49lead the company at this tricky juncture.

00:51When sales are falling, its EV tech edge is threatened by Chinese competitors like BYD,

00:57and it trails Waymo in the emerging robo-taxi business.

01:01If he did step down, it would trigger an even bigger sell-off of Tesla shares than the 50%

01:05slide that's occurred in recent months.

01:08Much of the company's value, far larger than any other carmaker's, and 118 times

01:14its earnings, is tied to Musk's persona as a business visionary.

01:18Dan Ives, a bullish Tesla analyst for Wedbush, told Forbes, quote,

01:23Musk is Tesla, and Tesla is Musk.

01:26Anyone else would change the whole story.

01:30Big public companies typically have a deep bench of in-house CEO candidates waiting in

01:35the wings, managers who've proven they're up for the job, and who investors and analysts

01:39are familiar with.

01:41That's not the case at Tesla, which Musk has so profoundly dominated in his 17 years

01:46as CEO and top shareholder since he bought into it.

01:49In fact, it has no president, COO, or EVP.

01:54And aside from its CFO, the highest-ranking executive below Musk is a single senior vice

01:59president.

02:00The successor pool is far, far smaller than at any other large auto, manufacturing, or

02:06tech company, in part because Musk has pushed out stars such as Jerome Guillen, former president

02:11of auto operations, or Doug Field, a famed Apple engineer who was key to getting Tesla's

02:17top-selling Model Y and Model 3 to market.

02:21We came up with a list of five people who have qualities that make them viable replacements,

02:26though without the social media trolling, bombast, and attention addiction Musk is known

02:30for.

02:31Here are a couple possibilities.

02:33First, there's J.B. Straubel.

02:37After Musk himself, no other individual is more clearly suited to lead Tesla than Straubel.

02:42Straubel is the company's CEO and co-founder of battery recycler and components maker Redwood

02:46Materials and a Tesla board member.

02:49Musk brought him in as a co-founder in 2004, and he was its CTO until 2019, overseeing

02:55the development of its electric motors and battery packs in Tesla's earliest days and

03:00getting its massive battery gigafactory in Nevada up and running.

03:05As one of Tesla's five co-founders and a board member since 2023, the 49-year-old Straubel

03:10is intimately familiar with its history and all aspects of its operations.

03:15While he and Musk first bonded over a shared interest in electric vehicles in 2003, they

03:20have very different personalities.

03:22Where Musk is volatile and prone to exaggerated claims, Straubel, with engineering degrees

03:27from Stanford, is low-key, calm, and enjoys discussing the intricacies of battery material

03:33science.

03:35Another possibility is Tom Zhu, Tesla's only senior vice president.

03:41Zhu is the carmaker's top executive for automotive operations below Musk, and is based in China.

03:46He's also become its de facto COO, particularly as Musk spends less of his time at the carmaker.

03:52Zhu, who is 44 years old, established his importance to the company by overseeing the

03:57construction and operation of its Shanghai plant that's become vital to Tesla's profitability

04:02since 2020.

04:04He joined in 2014, after several years in a variety of roles with Kaibo Engineering Group,

04:10a Chinese civil engineering company.

04:12Zhu's success leading Tesla's Chinese business, and his familiarity with that market, including

04:18its vast EV supply base, will continue to be a crucial asset as the company works to

04:23stay competitive and profitable there, and makes him a competitive candidate to be Musk's successor.

04:31For full coverage and to see our list of all five top contenders, check out Alan Onsman's

04:35piece on Forbes.com.

04:39This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes, thanks for tuning in.

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