One of Tesla’s earliest investors has called for Elon Musk to be fired, claiming that he is too distracting.
Wealth manager Ross Gerber has called for the CEO to either leave the company or fully commit to it, as he believes Musk’s every growing list of responsibilities are taking him away from his ability to run the car manufacturer.
Musk was given the role of Head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with the aim of being Donald Trump’s go-to guy as well as government spending cuts.
Trump also tasked Musk with bringing back the stranded astronauts with SpaceX.
Gerber believes that there is too much on Musk’s plate, causing Tesla to get ‘neglected’.
He also thinks the billionaire’s heavy political influence has turned Tesla vehicles into a political symbol, putting many potential buyers off.
Gerber said: “I think Tesla needs a new CEO and I decided today I was going to start saying it and so this is the first show that I’m saying it on,”
“It’s time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long.
He added: “There are too many important things Tesla is doing, so either Elon should come back to Tesla and be the CEO of Tesla and give up his other jobs or he should focus on the government and keep doing what he is doing but find a suitable CEO of Tesla.”
“The company’s reputation has just been destroyed by Elon Musk,” he said.
“Sales are plummeting so, yeah, it’s a crisis. You literally can’t sell the best product in the market place because the CEO is so divisive”.
Tesla’s stock value has plummeted by more than $800 billion since December 2024.
