Tesla CEO Elon Musk walks to board Air Force One with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) as they depart for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., March 22, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Shares of Tesla fell as much as 3% in overnight trading on trading platform Robinhood, following reports that its board has opened a search for a chief executive to succeed Elon Musk.
Tesla’s board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing comments from sources familiar with the discussions.
The move follows a sharp drop in the electric vehicle giant’s sales and profits, with its top and bottom lines missing estimates in the first quarter. Tesla’s reputation has been negatively impacted by Musk, who spent considerable time in the White House with U.S. President Donald Trump to downsize the federal government.
The mega-billionaire said on a Tesla earnings call last week that he plans to spend just a “day or two per week” running the so-called Department of Government Efficiency beginning in May.
Shares of Tesla
Tesla’s total revenue slipped 9% year-on-year to hit $19.34 billion in the January-March quarter. This falls short of the $21.11 billion forecast by analysts, LSEG data shows.
Revenue from its automotive segment declined 20% year-on-year to $14 billion, as the company needed to update lines at its four vehicle factories to start making a refreshed version of its popular Model Y SUV. Tesla also attributed the decline to lower average selling prices and sales incentives as a drag on revenue and profit.
Its net income plunged 71% to $409 million, or 12 cents a share, from $1.39 billion or 41 cents a year ago.
Since the start of the year, its shares have plunged 30.13%.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Laura Kolodny contributed to this report.
