{"id":2143,"date":"2025-03-19T22:50:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T22:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/investors-urge-elon-musk-to-return-to-tesla-or-find-a-new-ceo\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T22:51:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T22:51:05","slug":"investors-urge-elon-musk-to-return-to-tesla-or-find-a-new-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/investors-urge-elon-musk-to-return-to-tesla-or-find-a-new-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors Urge Elon Musk to Return to Tesla\u2014or Find a New CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Elon Musk steps off of Air Force One on March 17, 2025 after traveling with U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tesla (TSLA)<\/a>, which sells nearly half of all electric vehicles in the U.S., has long been synonymous with its founder and CEO Elon Musk<\/a>. But this tie is increasingly becoming a liability for some of Tesla\u2019s major investors. \u201cThe company\u2019s reputation has just been destroyed by Elon Musk<\/a>,\u201d Ross Gerber<\/a>, a wealth manager and early Tesla investor, told the U.K.\u2019s Sky News in an interview published today (March 19).<\/p>\n

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Gerber, who currently owns 262,000 shares of Tesla stock through his firm Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, added that Musk needs to either find a new CEO for Tesla or step away from his political efforts as head of the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).<\/p>\n

Musk owns or runs at least five companies other than Tesla. In its annual report last year, Tesla listed out Musk\u2019s involvement in ventures like SpaceX<\/a>, X and xAI<\/a> as a risk factor given that the CEO \u201cdoes not devote his full time and attention to Tesla<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But none of Musk\u2019s external activities have generated as much public backlash as his recent entry into right-wing politics. The Musk-helmed DOGE, which has slashed federal budgets and workforces in recent months, has turned Tesla into a target for those upset at the billionaire\u2019s growing political influence.<\/p>\n

Besides materializing in protests against Tesla dealerships and vehicles, this negative sentiment has dented Tesla\u2019s EV sales and stock price. Tesla\u2019s share price is down about 50 percent since it\u2019s December high following Trump\u2019s election win. Sales is falling<\/a> in all of its key markets.<\/p>\n

Investors want a new Tesla CEO<\/h3>\n

\u201cYou literally can\u2019t sell the best product in the marketplace because the CEO is so divisive,\u201d said Gerber of Musk\u2019s impact on the carmaker\u2019s standing. \u201cIt\u2019s time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long,\u201d added the investor, who cited DOGE as one of the reasons why he\u2019s selling off shares.<\/p>\n

Other notable Tesla backers appear to share Gerber\u2019s sentiments. Christopher Tsai<\/a>, an investment manager with 75,000 shares in the EV company, urged Musk to return his attention to Tesla in a recent interview with the Guardian. \u201cI hope his involvement with [DOGE] is short-lived<\/a>,\u201d said Tsai, who manages a $137 million portfolio at his firm Tsai Capital.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just investors who are upset with Musk. For some Tesla owners, the electric vehicles have turned into an unwanted political statement. \u201cI bought a Tesla because it was fast like a rocket ship<\/a>,\u201d said Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, in an X post earlier this week where he revealed he was selling his Tesla. \u201cEvery time I drive it, I feel like a rolling billboard for a man dismantling our government and hurting people,\u201d he added. Registrations for Tesla vehicles fell by 11 percent<\/a> in the U.S. in January compared to the year prior, according to data from S&P Global Mobility.<\/p>\n

Even longtime Tesla bulls are changing their tune. \u201cThere has been little to no sign of Musk at any Tesla factory or manufacturing facility the last two months and perception has become reality for Tesla shares,\u201d said Dan Ives<\/a>, an analyst with Wedbush Securities<\/a>, in a client note earlier this month. If Musk\u2019s focus remains on DOGE, \u201cthen brand damage will become more pervasive,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Musk\u2019s external activities have caused a crisis for investors. After the entrepreneur acquired Twitter, now known as X, for $44 billion in 2022, Tesla shareholders urged Musk to refocus his attention to the carmaker<\/a>, with Musk eventually stepping down as the platform\u2019s CEO in 2023. \u201cWe have been here before with Musk many times over the last decade\u2026 and he ultimately stepped up for Tesla shareholders,\u201d said Ives, who described the CEO\u2019s handling of Tesla\u2019s turbulence over the next few months as \u201ccritical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Investors<\/p><\/div>\n