What would happen to Tesla without Elon Musk at the helm?

Perhaps no general manager is more inextricably linked to his company, as Elon Musk is in Tesla. But Musk's future at the helm of the electric car company was questioned when the SEC took it to court on Thursday.

The SEC claimed that Musk had misled investors on Aug. 7, while he had tweeted that he had secured funding allowing him to get a Tesla stake in the $ 420 private sector which provoked a surge in Tesla's stock. He did not get the funding, says the SEC.

The regulator wants a federal judge to ban Musk from holding the position of officer or director of a publicly traded company. Musk said in a statement that the continuation of the SEC was "unjustified".

Analysts and experts told CNN that the SEC's lawsuit brings a plague of uncertainty to You're here (TSLA), which is already struggling with intense commercial pressure. Tesla 's stock fell about 14% on Friday.

Telsa without Musk

Wall Street analysts worry about Tesla's prospect without its founder behind the wheel. According to Lee Richards, a former securities attorney and founding partner of Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, the SEC's civil complaint found that Musk had violated securities law.

Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA, downgraded Tesla's title to a sales index on Friday. He even argues that the threat of leaving Musk should be a decisive factor.

"Without a doubt we think [Musk leaving] would be a negative. We think he's a genius. He's a visionary, "Nelson said.

The company does not spend money on advertising and often uses Musk's popular social media accounts to spread its information. Product updates are frequently sent from his Twitter account, which has 22.7 million followers.

The idea of ​​a Post-Musk Tesla does not put everyone off. Tesla is "still a powerful brand in itself," said Karl Brauer, executive editor of Kelly Blue Book and Autotrader.

"The presence of Elon at the top of the company is not necessary to maintain the value of the Tesla brand," he said.

Apple survived without Steve Jobs, Brauer said. Tesla can do the same thing.

Musk's departure from Tesla is not imminent. He will be allowed to retain his role and titles at Tesla until the continuation of the SEC is decided or settled. It could take a year or more, two former SEC officials told CNN.

And if Musk stays?

This is only the last, but most serious, of a series of controversies sparked by Musk in recent months. Among his other painful emotions include the fact of throwing late-night tweets, eliminating questions from analysts during a phone call, denigrating a man who helped rescue boys trapped in a Thai cave and make war on his critics on social media.

He is facing a defamation suit against the Thai cave rescuer and a shareholder lawsuit for his claim that he has obtained funds to take Tesla privately. The company confirmed earlier this month that the Department of Justice is conducting its own criminal investigation. This could result in a fine or jail time for Musk.

But Musk's ousting is not certain.

Despite all the negative headlines, the Tesla board said Thursday that he "had full faith in Elon, his integrity and his leadership in the company.

Doug Davison, a partner at Linklaters and a former SEC executive, pointed out that billionaire investor Mark Cuban had managed to fight the insider accusations filed by the SEC a few years ago.

Even if Musk is convicted, the former prosecutor, Richards, said Musk could argue that he had sent the tweets without thinking too much about it. This could help her to incur a lighter sentence and potentially avoid a leadership ban within the company or reduce it to a few years.

And there is a loophole: if Tesla secured the funds needed to privatize the company, Musk could remain as chief executive, because the SEC can only ban him from management roles in publicly traded companies, said Davison.

However, if the company remains public, Musk may be forced to take a secondary position or leave the company altogether. That might not be the worst thing for Tesla, said Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Autotrader.

"Personally, I think what should happen is that the board should be proactive and move it toward a more visionary role and inspire others to assume the role of director. of society, "said Krebs.

Tesla has always had its share of detractors. His stock is one of the shortest on Wall Street, which means that many people are betting against the company.

But Krebs said that most "investors and consumers probably want it to stay".

And if he clings to control, Tesla's best solution would be to "strengthen the bench and the board with people who are not just masters." In other words, Tesla needs people who will keep Musk under control.

Model 3, fund consumption and competition

Whoever runs Tesla will oversee serious problems.

Tesla has accumulated considerable debt by investing in the mass production of Model 3, the company's first car for a consumer market.

Tesla claims to have no cash flow problems, but several analysts told CNN that they expected the company would need to raise money to recover and pay its bills. Lenders may be reluctant to pay money to Tesla when the general manager faces a lengthy court battle.

Meanwhile, Tesla is about to face some competition in the luxury electric vehicle market. Established car manufacturers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes are making great games for the market.

"There are fabulous electric vehicles coming slowly but surely to the market," Kelly Blue Book's Brauer said. "And that will only make the atmosphere and market circumstances more uncertain.

Investors hate uncertainty.

"Investing in Tesla stocks and bonds over the past few weeks has been a game of choosing your own adventure," said Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne in a note after the SEC announcement . "Investors worry that this is just the beginning and that there is a" black box "of results here."

CNNMoney (New York) First published on September 29, 2018 at 10:09 ET