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SEC probes declared. Shareholders' proceedings in a snowball. Email fights with journalists, possible future defamation lawsuit, frowning interview with The New York Times. Yes, you could say that Elon Musk from Tesla has been here all summer. And despite the many hours of Thursday night, smokingand in-depth conversation on Joe Rogan's podcast – covering the AI, the Boring Company's tunnels, the evil nature, Instagram and Musk's new idea for a supersonic vertical takeoff and landing aircraft – l & # 39; state of mind has been relaxed.
The CEO has received legions of fans for his refusal to do public affairs like everyone else. Tesla has long refused to spend money on marketing, and there is no reason to do so: the merry, whimsical, sometimes downright weird public figure makes a lot of news at no cost. But after a few months of madness, observers were pushed to ask: how much does this personality become too much? How much does the Tesla company decide it's better to do without the man who has led it in the last ten years?
To be clear: this is not an imminent hypothesis. Elon is not going anywhere soon. "Musk seems to be at the heart of Tesla's success," says Joseph Grundfest, a professor of corporate and governance law at Stanford Law School and former commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. "What are you going to say? "Why do not we get rid of John, Paul and Beatles George and we'll just have Ringo on drums? We will have Ringo on drums, we'll call them the Beatles, and we'll go from the front?
A concrete example: Musk's new compensation program, approved by shareholders in March, places huge bets on the long-term future of the company and its long-term future. Musk is earning a minimum wage, but he could make $ 55 billion when he manages to reach a series of ambitious goals over the next decade, indicating that his Tesla co-owners would really like it to remain .
Moreover, in June, the man pushed the pressure of a shareholder to compel him to formally divide the roles of president and CEO of the company and keep only the latter title, with 16.2% of favorable voices.
To top it off: The six independent board members issued a favorable statement to the leader this month, even after the automaker returned to Musk's announcement that it was considering privatizing the company. "The board and the company as a whole remain focused on Tesla's operational success and we fully support Elon as he continues to lead the company into the future," they wrote.
Yet, just look at another king of Silicon Valley to see how fast fortunes are changing. Uber's co-founder, Travis Kalanick, had packed his board with upbeat investors, his leadership seemed unassailable. But six months after the start of the terrible press of this company, caused by a toxic corporate culture that Kalanick had favored, the CEO was found with his own collaborators. (The sudden and traumatic death of his mother in a boating accident last spring also complicated matters.) In July, venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, a major stakeholder in the company, asked for his resignation. The New York Times reported last summer. After a night of intense negotiations, Kalanick agreed to withdraw.
Which is to say that even a friendly council can fend for itself if emergencies arise. And in Tesla, Musk's 22% stake is not enough to rule out the possibility of his eviction by his board of directors, if the majority of his eight members decided to get tired of him. (Musk is also on board.) The ninth member, venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, has been on leave for eight months.)
But there are ways to straighten this semi-autonomous electric ship without throwing musk at sea. Namely: stall. The current management structure could have provided the company with an effective leadership strategy from the beginning. But rumors have run that the board has resumed its search for a number two. A right hand man who can lead Tesla in its evolution and face growing competition in a changing sector. According to Bloomberg, no research of this type is in progress, but that does not mean that it is a bad idea.
"It's time. As businesses grow, a person's ability to direct exposure increases, and it's time for Tesla to recruit a number two, not to replace the founder, but to multiply the founder's leadership, "says Michael Useem, director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
"The value of this model has been evident in many companies, including Apple and Facebook," says Umseen. "Tesla's CEO and board of directors would be well advised to find the right multiplier now."
Hey, maybe Joe Rogan is looking for a new gig.
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