Elon Musk says he plans to stay on as Tesla’s CEO for five more years—unless activists or death intervene
Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t planning an exit—at least not a voluntary one. Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum this week, Musk stated his intention to remain in charge of Tesla for at least five more years.
That is, “unless I die,” he quipped, treating the idea as casually as one of his engineering puzzles still waiting to be solved.
The comment came during a tense exchange on politics with Bloomberg journalist Mishal Husain, who asked whether Musk saw himself still running Tesla five years from now. Musk’s reply? A simple, “Yes”—followed quickly by a caveat: “[Unless] I die. Let me see if I’m dead.”
The crowd laughed, but the tone shifted quickly. Musk made it clear that what’s at stake isn’t just Tesla’s EV and robotaxi plans—it’s his control. Whether in politics or in the boardroom, Musk wants to remain in command. And at Tesla, he says that continued leadership hinges on securing majority voting power.
That, he claims, is the only way to guard against activist investors pushing him out of the company he built.
“It’s not about money. It’s about reasonable control over the future of the company—especially when it comes to building millions, possibly billions, of humanoid robots,” Musk said. He dismissed the idea that financial compensation plays any role in his decision to stay or leave. “I can’t be in a situation where I’m suddenly ousted for political reasons by activists. That’s unacceptable. That’s the key issue.”
That’s what you might call the “robot clause.”
If Musk is to lead Tesla into its AI- and robotics-driven future, he wants ironclad protection—protection from activist shareholders, regulators, political controversies, and anything else that might jeopardize his position, including the ongoing sales slowdown.
But in Musk’s eyes, that slump is already in the rearview mirror. He says Tesla’s sales have rebounded across most markets:
“It’s already turned around. Europe is our weakest region. We’re strong everywhere else. Our sales are doing well now, and we don’t anticipate any significant demand issues. The stock market clearly sees this too—we’re back above a trillion-dollar market cap. So yes, it’s turned around.”
Musk also acknowledged that his polarizing persona plays a role in Tesla’s brand appeal—for better or worse. “Some people buy our cars because they think I’m crazy—or however they interpret it. Maybe we’ve lost some buyers on the left, but we’ve gained on the right. Sales are strong, and we don’t see a demand problem.”
Still, public data paints a different picture. In Q1 2025, Tesla’s U.S. sales continued to slump even as much of the auto industry experienced double-digit growth. Yet despite the weak fundamentals and Tesla’s inflated price-to-earnings ratio, the stock is up—a signal, Musk says, that investors see through the short-term noise.
At the core of Tesla’s challenges is Musk’s increasingly political profile. It’s no secret that his ideological battles have bled into Tesla’s public image, and during the interview, Husain pressed Musk on how this activism has affected him and the company.
“I did what needed to be done,” Musk replied, admitting that he’s taken the backlash personally—including acts of vandalism at Tesla stores.
“I’m not someone who’s ever committed violence. And yet, massive violence has been committed against my companies. People have threatened to kill me. Who are these people? Why would they do that? They’re on the wrong side of history. Damaging an innocent person’s car or threatening their life is evil. I haven’t harmed anyone,” he said.
All of this may have taken a toll. Musk now says he’s done with political spending—for now. That’s likely a wise move, given the reputational damage that’s already been done. Still, he hasn’t ruled out future involvement.
But the fallout is already visible. Recent polling shows that two-thirds of Americans say they would avoid buying a Tesla specifically because of Musk. Whether the company can recover with Musk still at the helm remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: if the company falters in the next five years, Musk says he’ll go down with the ship.
