Musk Commits to Tesla CEO Role and Plans Political Pullback

May 20, 2025

Guest

Eric Weiner

Max Chafkin, a Senior Reporter for Bloomberg News, Siyu Huang, CEO of Factorial Energy, and Eric Weiner, Senior Editor at Bloomberg News, dive into Elon Musk's steadfast commitment to Tesla, despite recent sales declines. They discuss Musk's shift away from political spending and the potential spinoff of SpaceX's Starlink. Additionally, Siyu highlights advancements in solid-state battery technology, addressing scalability and competitive dynamics in the EV market.

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INSIGHT

Musk Reduces Political Spending

Elon Musk plans to reduce his political spending, citing no current reason for heavy involvement.
This move appears aimed at reassuring Tesla shareholders and influencing political support on his terms.

INSIGHT

Robotaxi Challenges Ahead

Tesla's robotaxi ambitions face challenges due to regulatory and liability issues.
Musk's plans may be overly optimistic compared to the slow progress of competitors like Waymo.

INSIGHT

Brand Damage Hurts Tesla Sales

Political controversies surrounding Elon Musk have dampened Tesla's brand appeal.
The bigger issue affecting sales is customers choosing not to buy, not just protests or vandalism.

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Elon Musk said he’s committed to still leading Tesla Inc. five years from now and expects to pare back his political spending, assuaging some investors’ concerns about the future of his most valuable company.

The billionaire offered new details about his plans in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg News that also touched on his compensation, Tesla’s sliding sales and a possible spinoff of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite business. Musk repeated his criticisms of a familiar cast of characters, from Bill Gates to the Delaware judge who’s twice ruled against his massive Tesla pay package.

Musk, whose $375.5 billion fortune leads the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, reiterated that he wants to own more shares of Tesla for reasons of authority, rather than wealth.

“It’s not a money thing,” he said during a remote appearance Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. “It’s a reasonable control thing, over the future of the company.”

Musk has been chief executive officer of Tesla since 2008, one of the longest active stints atop the world’s largest automakers. His level of engagement with the company has come under greater scrutiny as the carmaker has followed up its first annual sales drop in over a decade with steeper declines early this year.

Musk, 53, downplayed the extent of Tesla’s challenges, saying that “it’s already turned around.” When pressed about this — the carmaker’s vehicle sales continued to plunge across Europe’s biggest electric vehicle markets in April — the CEO said that the region is the company’s weakest, but that it’s strong elsewhere.

Today's show features:
Bloomberg News Senior Reporter Max Chafkin on Elon Musk’s Qatar Economic Forum interview
Siyu Huang, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Factorial Energy
Bloomberg News National Security Team Leader Nick Wadhams
Bloomberg News Senior Editor, Equities Americas Eric Weiner

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