As Tesla sales have slipped throughout 2025, many people have looked for someone to blame. CEO Elon Musk is a popular target, as his political actions and outspoken views have led to significant news coverage.
According to a Reuters report, however, Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm downplayed concerns that Musk’s actions have impacted the company’s sales and said Tesla still has full confidence in Musk’s leadership.
“What he does from a personal perspective in terms of his political motivations is up to him,” Denholm said in a September interview with Bloomberg Television, per Reuters. “From a politics perspective, obviously we’re in a democracy, so everyone gets to voice their points of view.”
Musk is a central figure in Tesla’s rise, leading the company to become a global powerhouse in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Through Tesla’s rapid growth, it became the world’s most valuable automaker, and Musk became the richest person alive.
However, he has also become embroiled in a number of situations that made some consumers question whether they wanted to continue to back the Tesla brand.
Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, fired a number of employees, and renamed the social media platform as X. In August 2025, Musk settled a lawsuit with former employees who said they were due $500 million in severance pay, according to CNN.
He became a vocal and financial supporter of President Donald Trump, pouring millions of dollars into his 2024 presidential campaign. When Trump took office in January 2025, Musk became the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Tesla sales dipped, its stock price cratered, and the company became the subject of nationwide protests, as many consumers viewed support for Tesla as an endorsement of Musk’s approach to slashing federal spending or his politics.
Musk left his governmental role in May to put more focus on his businesses, but Tesla’s auto sales have continued to decline. Musk also briefly lost his position as world’s richest person to Oracle founder Larry Ellison but regained the title later that same day.
Despite Tesla’s bumpy year, its board has repeatedly voiced confidence in Musk. The board recently proposed a record-breaking compensation package for its CEO, which could make him the world’s first trillionaire, should the company reach certain lofty goals. Musk responded by buying roughly $1 billion worth of Tesla shares, which boosted the company’s stock back into positive growth for the year.
