Elon Musk denies being replaced by James Murdoch as Tesla chairman

Tesla is still looking.
 By 
Johnny Lieu
 on 
Elon Musk denies being replaced by James Murdoch as Tesla chairman
Elon Musk denies James Murdoch is the frontrunner for the Tesla chairmanship. Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Elon Musk denied he'll be replaced by James Murdoch as Tesla's chairman, an alleged shakeup that was the subject of rumors on Wednesday.

Murdoch, who's due to end his stint as 21st Century Fox's CEO, was named in a Financial Times report as the lead candidate to succeed Musk, according to two sources who spoke with the newspaper.

Musk remarked simply that the report was "incorrect" on Twitter.

The younger son of media mogul Rupert, Murdoch also serves as a director on Tesla's board, where he has done so since 2017.

As part of Musk's settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over his tweet announcing a plan to take Tesla private at $420 a share -- which some assumed was a weed-related wink, although Musk denies that, too -- he's coughed up $20 million as a penalty. Additionally, he's relinquishing his chairmanship of Tesla, where he'll sit out for three years, but remain CEO.

Tesla's search is very much on for a new chairman, with Bloomberg reporting that names like former Vice President Al Gore, Jim McNerney of Boeing, and Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Company have been floated as potential candidates.

Who knows? Perhaps it could be a job for you.

Topics Tesla Elon Musk

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Johnny Lieu

Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com

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