One of the first investors in Tesla has called on Elon Musk to step down as chief executive.
Ross Gerber said the controversial billionaire had lost his focus given his wide range of interests, saying he was now too "divisive" to lead the company.
Gerber told Sky News: "I think Tesla needs a new CEO and I decided today I was going to start saying it and so this is the first show that I'm saying it on.
"It's time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long."
He continued: "There are too many important things Tesla is doing, so either Elon should come back to Tesla and be the CEO of Tesla and give up his other jobs or he should focus on the government and keep doing what he is doing but find a suitable CEO of Tesla."
Since December, when the company's market value hit a record high of $1.5 trillion, it has fallen by almost half.
Aside from missing sales targets, Tesla faces heightened investor pressure to produce autonomous vehicles, which Musk has promised but failed to deliver for about a decade.
Musk also faces questions about his focus on Tesla while he juggles his demanding roles at Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and his other ventures, including space company SpaceX and social media website X, formerly Twitter.
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Asked in an interview with Fox Business last week how he was managing his businesses while serving as Trump's cost-cutter, he replied: "With great difficulty." He said he hoped to continue his Doge role for at least another year.
The Department has overseen cuts of more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3-million-member federal civilian workforce.
Gerber said that while Tesla's products were undoubtedly the best around, Musk's social media posts and work with the president since had brought too much negative publicity to Tesla.
He said: "The company's reputation has just been destroyed by Elon Musk."
Gerber added: "Sales are plummeting so, yeah, it's a crisis.
"You literally can't sell the best product in the market place because the CEO is so divisive."
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Ross Gerber said the controversial billionaire had lost his focus given his wide range of interests, saying he was now too "divisive" to lead the company.
Gerber told Sky News: "I think Tesla needs a new CEO and I decided today I was going to start saying it and so this is the first show that I'm saying it on.
"It's time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long."
He continued: "There are too many important things Tesla is doing, so either Elon should come back to Tesla and be the CEO of Tesla and give up his other jobs or he should focus on the government and keep doing what he is doing but find a suitable CEO of Tesla."
Since December, when the company's market value hit a record high of $1.5 trillion, it has fallen by almost half.
Aside from missing sales targets, Tesla faces heightened investor pressure to produce autonomous vehicles, which Musk has promised but failed to deliver for about a decade.
Musk also faces questions about his focus on Tesla while he juggles his demanding roles at Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and his other ventures, including space company SpaceX and social media website X, formerly Twitter.
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Asked in an interview with Fox Business last week how he was managing his businesses while serving as Trump's cost-cutter, he replied: "With great difficulty." He said he hoped to continue his Doge role for at least another year.
The Department has overseen cuts of more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3-million-member federal civilian workforce.
Gerber said that while Tesla's products were undoubtedly the best around, Musk's social media posts and work with the president since had brought too much negative publicity to Tesla.
He said: "The company's reputation has just been destroyed by Elon Musk."
Gerber added: "Sales are plummeting so, yeah, it's a crisis.
"You literally can't sell the best product in the market place because the CEO is so divisive."
Find Out More...