Musk Promises to Stay in Tesla Role for 5 Years, Cutting Back on Politics

Elon Musk is cutting back on political activity as Tesla pushes into autonomous vehicles, announcing plans to stay with the automaker as CEO for the next five years. Musk also said autonomy is the key to Tesla’s future, with its new CyberCab ready to roll next month.

Elon Musk is following up on a recent pledge to shift focus away from politics to spend more time with Tesla. During an interview at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, the South African-born executive said he intends to remain in his post as the automaker’s CEO for at least five more years.

There is “no doubt about that at all,” Musk said, when asked about remaining in that roll. “It’s not a money thing,” Musk explaind. “It’s a reasonable control thing over the future of the company.”

The news brought a mixed response from Wall Street, initially sending Tesla shares surging before a late afternoon plunge. Musk’s role in the Trump administration had been blamed for triggering a severe backlash among traditional EV buyers, leading to a sharp fall-off in sales and earnings so far this year.

Tesla beginning to recover, Musk claims

During the interview, Musk claimed demand for Tesla vehicles is beginning “to recover” after a 13% drop during the first quarter — despite signs of an intensifying downturn in Europe and China. Musk also said he is not worrying about competition from the Chinese EV makers who have been rapidly growing sales in many global markets.

Musk, meanwhile, downplayed the question of EV sales, insisting, he is focused on delivering autonomous vehicles and the Optimus robot. These are seen as key to Tesla’s future and continue to justify the company’s lofty share price in the minds of many investors.

He emphasized that the promised Tesla CyberCab will be ready to roll out next month from the company’s factory in Austin, Texas.

A battered image

There are plenty of questions about what will happen next, however. Musk’s image took a serious beating as he served as Donald Trump’s top advisor during the President’s controversial first hundred days in office. Looking forward Musk said he planned to reduce his financial contributions to political operations.

He spent $250 million dollars to push Trump’s election, but the Tesla CEO’s political ambitions suffered a huge defeat during a battle for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which sharply defined the limits of Musk’s appeal to American voters.

But it’s far from clear that such a move will soften his image, or that of Tesla. In recent months the automaker has seen regular and widespread protests at its showrooms and other facilities around the world. There’s also been vandalism in a number of instances. Perhaps more telling has been the rush by many existing Tesla owners to trade in their vehicles, something that has caused residual values to plunge.

More Tesla News

• Can Musk, Tesla Turn Things Around
• Tesla Calls “Absolutely False” Reports It Wants to Replace Musk
• Ford F-150 Now Outselling Tesla Cybertruck

Musk defends Tesla’s recent performance

Quizzed on Tesla’s first quarter results, which came with a 20% drop in earnings and a decline in deliveries of finished products, Musk pointed to the fact the EV maker was undergoing a model change at its three key plants in the U.S., China, and Germany.

“We can’t make cars if the factories are going through model change,” said Musk, noting the Tesla Model Y remains the best-selling electric vehicle in the world.

Musk said while the Chinese market — the world’s largest for battery electric vehicles –  is extremely competitive, he does not worry about challenges from rivals such as BYD, which recently surpassed Tesla to become the world’s number one EV manufacturer.

Instead, he is focused on delivering autonomous vehicles, which are key to Tesla’s future and continue to justify the company’s lofty share price in the minds of many investors.

Robotaxis ready to roll in June

Despite widespread skepticism, Musk insisted the Tesla robotaxi will be ready to roll next month in a geo-fenced area around Austin, Texas. The first Tesla robotaxis will not have “safety drivers” behind the wheel ready to take control in an emergency. They, instead, will be monitored by the equivalent of air traffic controllers, he said.

During the interview, Musk, who has a history of making off-the-cuff predictions which never materialize, said Tesla’s Full Self Driving technology is so good Tesla will quickly scale it up.  Tesla’s goal, according to Musk, is to have as many as one million autonomous vehicles on the road by the end of 2026.

In addition to Robotaxis, Musk said part of the company’s autonomous vehicle strategy will rely on existing owners, who will lend their vehicles back to the EV maker at certain times during the day or week. This will help expand the fleet while earning owners a share of revenues, much like property owners putting a house or apartment on Airbnb.

“I don’t need to buy Uber,” added Musk, who said he believes the federal government will develop a single set of standards, which will apply nationwide and override the patchwork of state-by-state regulations, which now exist.

Musk wants more control

Musk also told CNBC’s Don Faber that he would like to have more control over Tesla.  Musk currently holds about 25% of its share but would like more. Even with an ownership stake of 25%, Musk said he could be ousted by “activist” investors.

“Musk is a control freak,” noted Musk biographer Walter Issacson.

The desire for greater control came following Musk’s star-crossed foray into politics in which Trump put him in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has turned into a lightning rod from criticism of Musk and led to boycotts of Tesla around the United States.

Faber also noted during the interview that critics have suggested DOGE has been a failure and has not come close to delivering the staggering cost savings of a trillion dollars Musk once promised. During the exchange, Musk was forced to acknowledge DOGE had failed to achieve the saving but defended his controversial cuts — such as those to programs such as USAID.

Musk looking to boost image after DOGE

Significantly, Musk, appears to be starting a push to rebuild his tarnished image. He has taken hits from a variety of political pundits, as well as entertainers like Bruce Springsteen – who declared before a concert in Manchester, England that, “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction from abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death.”

Musk blamed his disastrous image on the critical media. “Legacy media is very effective in making you believe things that aren’t true,” Musk told Faber, noting his “hand gesture” the night of Trump’s inauguration was not a Nazi-style salute. The image of the hand gesture has been used to tag Musk as a Nazi fanboy.

The image was amplified by Musk outspoken support for Afd, the German political party with its roots in the country’s neo-Nasi, according to the German security services.