Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaking at a rally of then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden (Angela Weiss/Getty Images)

Prominent Tesla investor wants Elon Musk to step down: “It’s time for somebody to run Tesla”

Wealth manager Ross Gerber says Musk has too many time commitments.

Rani Molla

3/19/25 8:46AM

“I think Tesla needs a new CEO,” wealth manager and Tesla investor Ross Gerber told Sky News, citing Elon Musk’s many other time commitments, including his “divisive” work with President Donald Trump in the Department of Government Efficiency.

“There’s no question he’s been committed to his job at the government. That’s where he’s been spending his time. He is not running Tesla... it’s time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long. There’s 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’s doing but find a suitable CEO of Tesla.”

Gerber is the latest in a long line of people sounding the alarm as the company struggles with sales and has erased its postelection stock price gains.

Last week, even longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives began changing his tune regarding how Musk spends his time.

“In a nutshell the word ‘balance’ has been missing with Elon Musk and his ability to run Tesla as CEO... while instead focusing all of his energy and time driving his DOGE initiative within the Trump Administration... There has been little to no sign of Musk at any Tesla factory or manufacturing facility the last two months and perception has become reality for Tesla shares.”

Of course, this has long been an issue, but one investors didn’t harp on as much when the company was doing well. Indeed, Tesla’s annual reports have long listed Musk’s numerous commitments as a risk factor for the company. The latest:

“We are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla and our Chief Executive Officer. Although Mr. Musk spends significant time with Tesla and is highly active in our management, he does not devote his full time and attention to Tesla. For example: Mr. Musk also currently holds management positions at Space Exploration Technologies Corp., X Corp., X.AI Corp., Neuralink Corp. and The Boring Company, and is involved in other ventures and with the Department of Government Efficiency.”

That doesn’t even mention his other extracurriculars like:

Building multiple company towns.
Pretending to be top gamer in “Diablo IV,” something gamers say would’ve required him to play “all day, every day.”
Tweeting nonstop since he acquired Twitter, now X, in 2022.
Fathering at least 12 children and urging others to “have many more children.”

But as Tesla continues to struggle and account for less of Musk’s net worth, criticisms from investors and analysts will only get louder.

Rani Molla13h

“Tesla killer” Slate Auto switches CEOs ahead of launch later this year

Just months before the expected launch of its $25,000 truck, so-called “Tesla killer” Slate Auto has swapped out its CEO. Former Amazon Marketplace Vice President Peter Faricy is the new leader of the Jeff Bezos-backed company, while the previous CEO, Chris Barman, one of the electric truck maker’s first employees, is now president of vehicles.

“ The marketplace component is really important to us. Being able to understand how to sell things in the 21st century is really important because we're gonna be direct to consumer, without dealerships,” Jeff Jablansky, head of communications at Slate, said of the change. “The way Chris put it is, we are adding horsepower at a critical moment when people are going to be able to actually order their trucks.”

In a social media post just last month, then CEO Barman said the company would unveil the exact price tag for its Blank Slate, which goes on sale late in 2026, in June, but reaffirmed it will be in the mid-$20,000s.

Bezos-backed Slate Auto hires new, ex-Amazon CEO

Rani Molla16h

Amazon’s autonomous ride-hailing service now testing in 10 markets

Amazon self-driving subsidiary Zoox announced Monday that it’s testing in two additional markets, Phoenix and Dallas, bringing its total to 10 US markets. The company will begin by mapping select neighborhoods using retrofitted Toyota Highlander SUVs with safety drivers behind the wheel, before progressing to autonomous testing and eventually rolling out its steering-wheel-less, purpose-built vehicles for public users.

The service is currently available to the public in Las Vegas and to select users in the Bay Area, where it’s served 300,000 riders.

Zoox is also opening a third “Fusion Center” facility, in Arizona after Las Vegas and the Bay Area, from which it will provide assistance and coordinate operations for its fleet.

Zoox’s expansion comes as Alphabet’s Waymo recently reached its 10th public market and as Tesla’s Robotaxi says it plans to open in six new markets in the first half of the year.

Zoox is expanding and preparing to bring service to Dallas and Phoenix | Zoox

The service is currently available to the public in Las Vegas and to select users in the Bay Area, where it’s served 300,000 riders.

Zoox is also opening a third “Fusion Center” facility, in Arizona after Las Vegas and the Bay Area, from which it will provide assistance and coordinate operations for its fleet.

Zoox’s expansion comes as Alphabet’s Waymo recently reached its 10th public market and as Tesla’s Robotaxi says it plans to open in six new markets in the first half of the year.

Jon Keegan16h

Microsoft will use Anthropic’s Claude to power “Copilot Cowork”

Microsoft is partnering with Anthropic to power its new agentic offering, Copilot Cowork. The AI world is abuzz with agents that can do your busywork for you, and Anthropic’s Claude Cowork is one of the most prominent and capable offerings in the field.

The tech giant wrote:

“Working closely with Anthropic, we have integrated the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is this multi-model advantage that makes Copilot different. Your work is not limited by one brand of models.”

Microsoft listed some examples of how Copilot Cowork could help with common tasks such as rescheduling meetings, sending emails, researching companies, working with spreadsheets, and making presentations.

It’s worth stepping back to note how wild it is that Microsoft, the productivity software behemoth that has absolutely dominated the business world for decades, has had to turn to an AI startup to control those apps.

Copilot Cowork: A new way of getting work done | Microsoft 365 Blog

“Working closely with Anthropic, we have integrated the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is this multi-model advantage that makes Copilot different. Your work is not limited by one brand of models.”

Rani Molla16h

China’s smartphone slump could strengthen Apple

China smartphone shipments fell 22% year over year in January, according to a new Bernstein research note. The drop was partly due to the timing of Lunar New Year and tough comparisons with last year, when government subsidies boosted sales, but rising memory costs are also weighing on demand — especially in the lower-end segment dominated by Chinese brands.

Low-tier shipments fell 37%, hitting brands like Honor and Vivo particularly hard, while high-end sales from Apple and Huawei held up better. Overall average selling prices rose 13%.

That could be good news for Apple, which sits at the more price-insulated upper end of the Chinese market and has been making a comeback in the country. Apple’s market share grew to 18% in January — in line with Huawei — from 14% a year earlier, while the rest of the market fell 2 percentage points to 65%.

With its scale and industry-leading margins, the iPhone maker is better positioned to absorb higher memory costs. To wit: it recently unveiled the $599 iPhone 17e, which keeps its entry price steady with its predecessor while doubling storage.

Rani Molla

17h

Alphabet ties a portion of Sundar Pichai’s pay to Waymo for the first time

By tying up to $260 million of its CEO’s pay to Waymo, Alphabet is making clear the autonomous vehicle unit is no longer just an “Other Bet.”