Tesla Inc chair Robyn Denholm ignored questions about whether Elon Musk needs to devote more time to the US carmaker as its sales and share price crater.
Denholm, who spoke at a financial services conference in Melbourne on Tuesday, said nothing when asked if she was concerned about Musk’s apparent right-right allegiances, or his opposition to diversity and inclusion initiatives. Asked if she had a message for Tesla shareholders, she didn’t respond. A woman accompanying Denholm as she entered the conference venue said they wouldn’t comment or respond to any questions.
Denholm was giving a keynote address about technology at the Australian conference, and was listed on the program as a Tesla executive. Her speech focused on Australia’s inadequate investment in research and development. She is leading a review of R&D for the Australian government. She then refused to answer questions as she left the event.
Meanwhile, a crisis threatens to envelop Tesla on multiple fronts. Public anger at Musk’s proximity to the US government — he leads President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — has spilled over, with protesters targeting showrooms, vehicles and charging stations in the US and across Europe.
Musk’s new role has exacerbated concerns that he’s overstretched and has insufficient time to manage Tesla properly. Even before Musk started helping Trump cut costs, there were already doubts about his ability to oversee SpaceX, Tesla and social media platform X at the same time.
Musk, the world’s richest man with a fortune of US$340 billion, told Fox Business in an interview earlier this month that he was having “great difficulty” running his other businesses while managing Trump’s DOGE.
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Denholm’s ability to influence Musk has long been a topic of debate. The Sydney-based executive rarely talks in public about her role at Tesla, or answers specific questions about the company or how she oversees Musk.
A US judge ruled last year that Denholm lacked independence on the board because she owed most of her wealth to her service as a Tesla director. Denholm made US$280 million exercising Tesla options in 2021 and 2022, a sum that she has described as “life-changing.”
In Melbourne on Tuesday, Denholm also said nothing when asked if she had considered her position as Tesla chair.
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Other consumers are abandoning the carmaker in response to Musk’s apparent political allegiances. Musk endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the months leading up to the nation’s February election. He had earlier made gestures resembling a Nazi salute at an inauguration event for Trump.
Meanwhile Tesla sales and shipments have slumped in key markets including Europe and China. Musk sought to reassure Tesla employees in an all-hands meeting broadcast on X last week, and urged them to hang on to their stock.
The carmaker’s stock price, after reaching a December high of almost US$480, had lost more than half its value by early March. The shares jumped 12% on Monday amid a broader tech rally.
Even Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, long-term Tesla bull, last week said the company was going through a crisis that only Musk could fix, and urged the board to “step up” and stop being silent.
Denholm’s appearance at the Asia Pacific Financial and Innovation Symposium in Melbourne might be her last as chair of the Tech Council of Australia — the usual hat she wears for public appearances in her home country — after recently announcing she would hand the role over to Atlassian Corp. co-founder Scott Farquhar in late March.
One of the group’s main drives has been to increase the number of women working in the tech industry — earlier this month announcing a program with several companies that will “highlight the benefit of tech careers and the promotion of gender, equity, and inclusion in the tech sector.”
That’s at odds with Musk’s stance on DEI. He has called it “just another word for racism” and amplified posts on X that have blamed everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to Boeing Co’s manufacturing lapses on diversity and inclusion policies.
