Yes... but more than for most other large companies, he is the voice and face of the company. He is a rare person, and I think they'd be worse off without him. Hopefully Elon gets his stuff together.
He is and while I think that that has been a big benefit to Tesla, it isn't anymore. All the over promising, tweeting about random stuff has led to a stock that has moved 3% down over a year, whereas the S&P 500 has gone up 15% over the same time period.
And Tesla actually went from producing less than 2000 Model S and X to 5000k Model 3s, w/o loosing people's interest in the S. That should be a great victory, but big investors in Tesla have greatly reduced their stakes in Tesla over the last quarter.
Sure, one could argue that's all the shorts fault, but I don't think T. Rowe Price and Fidelity listen to what some nitwit on Seeking Alpha has to say.
And I agree, if he gets his stuff together then it would be great. But I don't think Tesla would be doomed without him. There are tons of great people working at Tesla and because of them they build great products. Elon was great at painting a great vision, a narrative that attracted investors and helped Tesla to start off.
But Tesla doesn't need a narrative anymore, they have grown up, they can show what they have accomplished. They don't need a CEO that keeps promising stuff. Apple never promised the iPhone, any iPhone. They never said they will change the market, they just did it.
I don't think they need Musk anymore, at least for what he is really good at. What's left is managing a big company, with all the responsibility that comes with it. And right now it doesn't seem like Elon is the best guy for that job.
People often tell the Elon success story and it is a success story, the guy has founded multiple innovative companies! But he has never run a big company. He seems to need the drama of a startup, or launching a rocket, or near bankruptcy. Going against all odds, trying something new.
But that's not what Tesla needs right now. Soon they will be a profitable car company. Being CEO of that means a lot of work, but probably not a lot of excitement.
So maybe I am wrong about halve of this, but that's how I see it. If I could decide, I'd take J.B. as CEO and them staying a public company. Partly because I would still be able to easily invest in Tesla, partly because I think the company would run smoother and would actually be worth more.