Elon Musk is under fire after going on the attack against The Wall Street Journal over a report claiming Tesla’s board has started looking for a new CEO.
Early Thursday, Musk and Tesla’s official X account called the story “absolutely false,” saying, “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.” Tesla added that this denial was given to the media before the story ran.
But The Wall Street Journal isn’t backing down.
“WSJ denies this,” CNN’s Hadas Gold reported. “Spox tells me, ‘We stand by our reporting. Tesla was given the opportunity to provide a statement before publication, which they did not do.’”
The headline set off a wave of reactions online, many of them mocking Musk’s response.
“Are you high on ketamine? Also, how many kids do you have?” wrote veteran Democratic strategist Jim Manley, referencing Musk’s public admission that he uses the drug.
Others weighed in with blunt criticism. Julia Hobsbawm, founder of Workathon, wrote, “Swords of truth are painful when newspaper report them.”
Tech activist Aaron Greenspan pointed to the company’s deeper problems: “If the Tesla Board had any actual concern about Elon Musk, you know, they could have just fired him for demanding a $56 billion pay package and then not showing up to work for three months. Appointing an interim CEO is not an impossible feat. Instead, they are trying to impress a court.”
Some of Musk’s supporters took aim at the Journal instead, with bizarre attacks. A hand surgeon named Yevgeny Shuhatovich accused the paper of being “woke” simply because the article had three female bylines.
Meanwhile, Wall Street noticed. Tesla stock dropped 4% overnight after the story broke.
