Tesla stock rose over 7% on Friday, lifted by renewed investor optimism despite concerns over weak sales, stretched valuations, and Chief Executive Elon Musk’s strategic shift toward artificial intelligence and robotics.
The rally marked a sharp reversal for the Tesla stock that has struggled this year, weighed down by the lack of new vehicle launches and unease about Musk’s political positions.
Tesla Chair’s belief in Elon Musk
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm offered a forceful endorsement of Musk’s leadership in a Bloomberg TV interview Friday, even as she acknowledged that he may not remain in the CEO role indefinitely.
“He is a generational leader,” Denholm said in the interview.
“There aren’t any other people out there like Elon who can actually lead the company over the next decade or so.”
Denholm said Tesla’s board has contemplated Musk moving into another role, such as chief product officer, under a massive new compensation agreement.
The proposed package, potentially worth around $1 trillion, was unveiled last week and will go to a shareholder vote in November.
$1T compensation plan for Elon Musk
The deal sets out ambitious operational and market value milestones Musk must meet to unlock tranches of the award.
Targets include delivering 20 million vehicles, expanding robotaxi operations, growing subscriptions for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, and commercialising humanoid robots.
Market capitalisation hurdles begin at $2 trillion and extend to $8.5 trillion, paired with EBITDA milestones ranging from $50 billion to $400 billion.
The package is designed to secure Musk’s focus on Tesla at a time when the company is branching out from its core EV business into robotics and AI.
Musk, who has led Tesla since 2008, also runs SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI, and the Boring Co.
Balancing Tesla with other ventures
Denholm defended Musk’s ability to manage multiple ventures, arguing his outside work often benefits Tesla.
“It is how he’s delivered in the past,” she said in the interview.
“From our perspective, actually having his creative energies in various endeavors that are outside of Tesla actually helps Tesla.”
Tesla’s proxy filing this month also outlined a non-binding proposal to take a stake in Musk’s xAI startup, which already integrates its Grok chatbot into Tesla vehicles and has agreements to buy Tesla’s Megapack energy systems.
Musk has repeatedly argued that Tesla’s long-term value will come from robotics and artificial intelligence.
Earlier this month, he said Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, could ultimately account for 80 percent of the company’s value.
The company is simultaneously investing in its robotaxi business, though both ventures remain years away from profitability.
Meanwhile, sales of Tesla’s electric vehicles are under pressure in major markets, with demand weakened by Musk’s political profile.
His close ties to President Donald Trump earlier this year fueled consumer backlash and even incidents of vandalism at Tesla showrooms.
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