'It Would Never Happen.” Why the Trump Feud Won't

'It Would Never Happen.” Why the Trump Feud Won't Push Musk Out as Tesla CEO.

Barron’s - Al Root

June 6, 2025

The Trump-Musk fissure raises an important question: Does Elon pose more harm as Tesla CEO than good?

The answer from Wall Street so far is a resounding “no.” In fact, many say replacing Musk is unimaginable and that investors should stick with the stock if they believe in his vision for the company of an artificial-intelligence future.

“Tesla without Musk would be a disaster for Tesla shareholders,” says Future Fund co-founder Gary Black, a longtime Tesla bull who recently sold his stock heading into the company’s robo-taxi launch in Austin, Texas, slated for later this month. Replacing Musk will “never happen,” Black says, adding that he is “the visionary and architect behind autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.”

“Musk is the best asset of Tesla,” says Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who covers the shares for his broker. “We see him as CEO until 2030 despite this frenemy Trump situation.” Ives rates Tesla shares Buy and has a $500 price target for shares.

The question has been raised before, as recently as this spring. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with discussion, reported that Tesla’s board began a search for Musk’s successor in April as sales at the EV maker fell and his time in Washington increased. Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm responded to the Journal report on X calling it “absolutely false.” Musk announced he was stepping away from his role at DOGE in April to spend more time at his companies.

Barron’s has reached out to Tesla, Musk, and board members for comment. Tesla’s largest institutional investors, Vanguard and BlackRock, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Baron Funds, which owns Tesla and SpaceX, declined to comment.

Tesla investor Alexandra Merz, a former credit officer at Moody’s who founded L&F Investor Services, which advises international investors on the creation or purchase of U.S. business, and describes herself as a retail shareholder advocate, defended Musk’s leadership in a Thursday panel hosted on X. Does she want Musk replaced? “I don’t,” was her reply to Barron’s question.

Tesla’s retail investment community shouldn’t be underestimated. Retail investors hold some 40% of Tesla shares available for trading, about twice the level of other large tech stocks.

Investing in a Musk-led company is a roller-coaster ride, though it’s hard to argue with the results. Coming into Friday trading, Tesla stock is up roughly 400% over the past five years.

Merz warned of increased stock volatility. Tesla is far more volatile than the average stock. But over time, the stock has reached higher highs—and higher lows.

“You just have to understand that if you own Tesla, it will be difficult to sleep at night,” says David Wagner, head of equities and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, which holds Tesla shares in their funds. He adds that Tesla investors have to look at the company’s fundamentals and the headlines.

Beyond Musk’s politics, the headlines involve alleged excessive drug use, battles with the Securities and Exchange Commission, other companies he has founded besides Tesla, and plenty more.

All these headlines make it harder to track the more fundamental matters like the robo-taxi launch. Tesla stock rallied in anticipation of the event before the feud brought shares lower. Tesla stock

TSLA was trading Friday up nearly 6%, around $300, a rebound of about one-third from Thursday’s 14% drop. At that level, the robo-taxi launch has to go smoothly for shares to keep performing. $tsla