Who should be Tesla's new Chair?

[dhanson865]

Good question. I don't really know. I think the Chair is seen as the leader of the Board. Apparently, an Executive Chair can take on some of the day-to-day managerial responsibilities of the company too.

Chair can be hands off or hands on outside of board meetings. It'll totally be fine for Oprah to be Chairwoman of the Board inside the boardroom and PR Queen outside the boardroom and never micromanage or get into any part of Tesla that isn't big picture.

 

[alloverx]

Bill Gates

 

[tander]

Well, I'm kind of surprised nobody has mentioned Kermit the Frog or a sock with two buttons.

But in seriousness, there's 3 options.
1. A true chairmen that would provide oversight to the board and Musk. But how many people could earnestly do that and add value? Alan Mullaley might be a good fit, Musk has mentioned that he respects Ford for not going bankrupt in 2008-9, and he's never served as a chairman so this might be a sweet spot time for him.
2. Not an actual puppet, but basically just a warm body that would go along with the flow and sort of just go through the motions and be loyal. They would either be a placeholder until Musk takes the helm back or take Tesla private. Maybe someone from PayPal or even the Space Industry.
3. A strategic chairmen that could provide some actual oversight and make good contributions without posing any threat to Musk. Jack Ma or someone with Asian heritage might be a good fit as they start to put both feet in China


Funny thing about all this is maybe Tesla has been planning to take on new directors and chairmen for a while now and this is basically just part of Tesla's growth plan as opposed to punishment from the SEC.

 

[strangecosmos]

I might be wrong, but I think this is how the process is going to work: the Board, including Elon (who still has a permanent seat), is going to interview candidates and nominate someone to be the new Chair. Then they are going to bring a motion to the shareholders to approve that nomination.

The Board, including Elon, will presumably nominate someone who is aligned with Tesla's current vision and goals. And presumably someone who supports Elon's continued leadership as CEO.

I guess there might be a difference between a Chair who wants to take a more active role in making decisions for the company, and a more passive Chair who just wants to provide advice, lead Board meetings, and oversee corporate governance to make sure everything's being run right — and defer to Elon on strategic and management decisions.

 

[mrdoubleb]

Mark Cuban. He could be the media attack dog for Tesla.

Haha. I like that for being a jumbo sized middle finger to the SEC.

 

[jhm]

My pick is Jigar Shah. He's was the very ambitious founder and CEO SunEdison, very keen on fighting climate change, has experience with overreach and failure.

 

[RFernatt]

Okay, one more possibility. Since Tencent took a decent stake in Tesla and China will be "yuge" for EVs in general and Tesla specifically, I throw in Ma Huateng (AKA Pony Ma) for the Tesla BoD. I'm not certain if there are rules about foreign individuals sitting on American company boards, but strengthening the China connection with GF3 looming could be intriguing and may spur some additional investment.

10 things you didn't know about Tencent CEO Pony Ma

 

[TSLA_Hopeful]

I thought about it today and Bill would be great. He and Elon share a similar view on AI, he has billions to invest if he likes, can make a strategic investment for his foundation and provide new capital, and was never the guy to hold back in his early days.

 

[Akikiki]

J.B.

 

[strangecosmos]

J.B.

It can’t be a Tesla employee

 

[EinSV]

IMO, the Chair should be someone with a start-up/entrepreneurial mindset who strongly supports Tesla's mission to accelerate the advent of sustainable energy. Reid Hoffman, Marc Benioff, Mike Cannon Brookes (or Reed Hastings if he weren't fully occupied) might be good choices.

 

[DriverOne]

Could bring back Lyndon? No longer an employee, and familiar with the business. Lyndon Rive - Wikipedia

 

[Ellec]

Leonardo Di Caprio

 

[lunitiks]

Jack Black

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Herman Miller

 

[jhm]

Could bring back Lyndon? No longer an employee, and familiar with the business. Lyndon Rive - Wikipedia

Hmm, not so sure he is technically "independent."

 

[almonster]

Warren Buffet to lend some old school stability for Wall Street and our car's future.

 

[davecolene0606]

Who ever it is, I they don't get this:

They are not qualified...

Fire Away!

 

[Abstrakt1]

Time to unthaw Walt Disney

 

[jhm]

Kanye West would be an awesome choice for Chair.