Elon Musk denies James Murdoch as "favorite" of Tesla's president

Elon Musk denied on Wednesday night the rumor that James Murdoch would be the "favorite" candidate to replace him as chairman of Tesla Inc.'s board of directors.

In a tweet posted at 4:20 pm Pacific time – probably an inside joke about marijuana and his now infamous tweet saying the company had "secured funding" to jump to $ 420 per share – Musk tweeted a response to an article from Financial Times according to which simply: "This is incorrect."

Earlier in the day, the FT, citing two informed sources of the talks, announced that Murdoch could assume the role of president after leaving his position as chief executive of 21st Century Fox.

FOX, -1.90%

once the company has completed its sale of entertainment assets to Walt Disney Co.

DIS -3.45%

The FT said Musk was in favor of Antonio Gracias, a current board member, but he may not have been perceived as an independent party. The report adds that other external candidates are also in the study.

In an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges that it had misled investors about the privatization offer, Musk was to give up his presidency for three years. He must also pay a $ 20 million fine in addition to a $ 20 million fine that Tesla must pay. The company must also add at least two other independent members to the board of directors and set guidelines and oversight of how Musk acts on social media.

Since the settlement was announced at the end of September, Musk has been controlling the SEC in tweets, accusing them of helping sellers in the open.

Tesla shares

TSLA, -2.25%

fell Wednesday and are down more than 17% since the beginning of the year, compared with the S & P 500

SPX, -3.29%

4% gain.

MarketWatch Parent News Corp.

NWS -4.15%

and 21st Century Fox share a common property.