“Extremely Bad Breach Of Ethics”: Elon Musk Blasts Wall Street Journal’s CEO Search Report

Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming the board had begun searching for Elon Musk’s successor, calling the story “absolutely false.” Musk echoed the rebuke, slamming the story as an “EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS” by the legacy media outlet. 

“Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company,” Denholm wrote in a statement published on X via Tesla. 

She emphasized, “This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published),” adding, “The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.”

Musk chimed in, calling the WSJ story by Emily Glazer, Becky Peterson, and Dana Mattioli “an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors.”

It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the @WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors! https://t.co/9xdypLGg3c

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2025

WSJ’s Glazer and others cited anonymous sources to indicate that slumping vehicle sales and DOGE-related backlash had damaged the brand, prompting the board to search for a new CEO.

Here’s an excerpt: 

Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions. 

… 

The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The current status of the succession planning couldn’t be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning. Musk didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Why WSJ’s Glazer and her co-authors chose to publish the story—despite receiving a denial from Tesla’s board before publication—underscores how legacy media spreads misinformation and disinformation.

This is the landscape Musk—and top officials in the Trump administration—are navigating: a hostile leftist corporate media environment that pushes endless streams of misinformation and disinformation.

In case you wonder what we — and President Trump — are up against.

100% NEGATIVE coverage from so-call “mainstream” press in the first 100 days. PERFECT SCORE.

(Come on @RobertKennedyJr & @elonmusk , you guys can do better!) pic.twitter.com/uYi2ebI0RG

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) April 30, 2025

Folks on X are saying…

Same old story, legacy media writing BS stories about Tesla, then the amateur armchair speculators come in to spread fud, wild.

— Adrian Dittmann (@AdrianDittmann) May 1, 2025

YOU CANNOT HATE THE MEDIA ENOUGH!!!!!!

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) May 1, 2025

Many car companies, but protests are only against Tesla.

Many billionaires, but protests are only against Elon Musk.

Many departments, but protests are only against DOGE.

Many social networks, but the media is only against ð•

Why is that?

— Crazy Vibes (@CrazyVibes_1) May 1, 2025

There is no more journalistic integrity. It’s high time Tesla sues WSJ and all the fake media fwiw. They’re free to say ‘sources familiar with the matter’ to hedge their lies but these things hit Bloomberg terminals and leading to deliberate market manipulation by algos

— Baymax (@blorrior) May 1, 2025

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