Tesla denies report that its board planned to replace Musk • FRANCE 24 English

Tesla denies report that its board planned to replace Musk • FRANCE 24 English

Time now for business. Cammy Knight joins us in the studio. A very good evening to you. Um, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Tesla’s board was looking for a replacement for CEO Ellen Musk. Well, it’s Thursday. What’s the fallout? Well, Tesla’s now denying that report. Chair Robin Denhome writing on X that the claim was absolutely false and that the board is highly confident in Elon Musk’s ability to continue executing on the plan ahead. The report cited comments from sources familiar with the discussions and said that Tesla’s board members started reaching out to several executive search firms last month to work on a formal process for finding the company’s next CEO. It said it was because of frustration around Musk’s role in the Trump administration and Tesla’s sinking share price, which Musk himself has admitted could be linked. Tesla’s stock price tumbled as much as 45% this year before recovering slightly. But the company also reported a sharp decline in both sales and profit in the first quarter with earnings plummeting 71%. On his call with investors last week, Musk announced that starting now in May, he would be stepping back from his nearly full-time job running Doge and spending only a day or two a week on its efforts. US President Donald Trump thanked Musk for his work during what might have been his last cabinet meeting for the foreseeable future on Wednesday. Take a listen. been a tremendous help. You opened up a lot of eyes as to what could be done and we just want to thank you very much. And uh you know, you’re invited to stay as long as you want. At some point, I guess he wants to get back home to his cars and you’ve done an incredible job. $150 billion. Think of this. Yeah. Whatever the number, it’s well short of the $2 trillion he’d initially promised to cut from federal government spending. Let’s take a look at what his department did cut. Doge was responsible for 48% of all job cuts so far this year in the US. It’s a 680% increase from the same period last year. Doge related cost cutting led to more than 281,000 layoffs. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims surged to 241,000 uh last week, the latest sign of economic trouble in the US. Now, in other news, over 250 Labor Day demonstrations have been taking place around France this Thursday, pushing for better rights for workers. In the city of Dunkirk in northern France though, the protest had a much more specific goal after steel maker Arcelor Metal announced it was cutting 600 jobs earlier in the week. Luke Shreger has more. [Music] Marching on Mayday in Dunkerk in protest of upcoming job cuts, our workers from local sites are seriously worried for their futures. There’s 10,000 jobs on the line. The entire Aro basin is at risk. It’s going to be hard. If it closes, it’ll be very hard for young people, for the shops, for everyone. Everyone is involved because everyone knows at least one person who works for Arcelor Metal and other companies in Dunkerk. The steel making company wants to cut 600 jobs across its French sites, half of them in Dunkerk, where it suspended a 1.8 8 billion euro decarbonization project last November. The company’s facing stiff competition from cheap Chinese imports and posted a net loss of€345 million in the fourth quarter last year. Arcel’s also called for European aid to protect EU metal workers, but is moving ahead with relocating jobs and locals fear the worst. It’s huge. The consequences will be catastrophic. It’s just the beginning. If we let them do this, other companies will go the same way. For those who turned out in support, a political solution is needed. When things aren’t going well, when the shareholders aren’t doing their jobs, it’s simple. It should be temporarily nationalized. Arsela Middle in the meantime is planning on shifting jobs to Poland and India, with French workers planning demonstrations throughout the summer. Most European markets are closed on the 1st of May, but London’s Footsie only just closed higher, keeping its winning streak intact and on par with its best run in 2017. In the US, meanwhile, the Dow has rallied 200 points to kick off the month after Microsoft and Meta posted strong quarterly results. Shares of Microsoft up 9% in early trading. McDonald’s, however, has suffered its biggest drop in US sales since the height of COVID. The company saying the fall is driven by concerns about the US economy. Its revenue sank 3.6% in the first 3 months of 2025 compared to that very same period in 2024. Plenty more earnings reports coming today, including from Apple and Amazon, which I’ll of course be bringing you later after they’re posted after the bell. Coming out with the business. Thank you very much indeed. Great to see you. We take a very short break. After that, more news. Prime News Paris. Stay with us. [Music]

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm has denied a Wall Street Journal report that the board had started looking for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk. It comes as Musk is stepping back from his position running DOGE this month. Meanwhile, more than 250 Labour Day demonstrations have been taking place around France. Plus, McDonald’s suffers its biggest drop in US sales since the Covid-19 pandemic.
#ElonMusk #Tesla #WSJ

Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/B8UO.y

🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN

🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/

Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X: https://f24.my/Xen
Bluesky: https://f24.my/BSen and Threads: https://f24.my/THen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen