Tesla (TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk said Tuesday he plans to continue leading the electric-vehicle giant through 2030. Tesla stock advanced Tuesday as it plans a robotaxi service.
Musk made the comments during an interview Tuesday morning at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Abu Dhabi. Responding to a question that “no doubt about that at all” that he will be the CEO in five years time, Musk said yes, unless he “might die.”
Musk also reiterated that he wants “sufficient voting control such that I cannot be ousted by activist investors is what matters to me.”
The Tesla head has come under fire in recent months amid his political work with President Donald Trump. There also has been brand damage to Tesla that has accompanied Musk’s frequent political statements on X.
“We’ve lost some sales perhaps on the left but we’ve gained them on the right,” Musk said, referring to left-wing and ring-wing consumers. “The sales numbers at this point are strong and we see no problem with demand.”
“Our stock wouldn’t be trading near all-time highs if things weren’t in good shape, they’re fine, don’t worry about it,” Musk added. TSLA shares are 29% below the all-time high of 488.54.
Tesla stock pared gains, rising as high as 354.99 before closing up 0.5% to 343.82 during Tuesday’s stock market action. The stock slid 2.3% to 342.09 on Monday.
All About Robotaxi And Autonomy
Tesla is preparing to launch a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, next month. After meeting with Tesla last week, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note to clients that this will likely be around 10 to 20 cars, on public roads and be invite only with plenty of tele-ops to ensure safety levels.
Musk, speaking with CNBC on Tuesday, said that there will probably 10 robotaxi Model Ys in the first week and that there could be 1,000 in a “few months.”
The Tesla chief did not give a specific date for the rollout but said it would come before end of June. He also confirmed there will be human supervisors of the autonomous trips and that the robotaxi service will be geofenced, meaning the entirety of Austin will not be available.
This comes after Musk said during the first-quarter earnings call in April that Tesla was still debating what the robotaxi service would look like but that there will be “maybe 10 to 20” vehicles on day one.
Meanwhile, Musk also made it clear on the first-quarter conference call that the robotaxi vehicles in Austin will be Model Ys.
“We expect to be selling fully autonomous rides in Austin in June,” Musk said. “The team and I are laser focused on bringing robotaxi in Austin in June,” adding that “unsupervised autonomy will first be solved for the Model Y in Austin.”
Separately, the CyberCab product is on track for production next year, according to Tesla. The CyberCab will use the “unboxed” manufacturing system (a modular approach). Tesla executives said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call that the unboxed process is “progressing,” suggesting it’s not yet ready.
Tesla Stock Performance
Currently, aside from broad market optimism about Trump’s China deal, investors are bullish on Tesla’s self-driving efforts.
Tesla stock is up 21% thus far this month. On May 9, shares blasted above their 200-day moving average, offering investors an aggressive entry. However, Tesla stock is extended now and there still is a lot of overhead resistance.
The stock remains about 15% down this year as of Monday’s close despite a surge fueled by analyst optimism coming out of the company’s first-quarter conference call. Significant overhead remains, with shares down about 30% from its 488.54 peak on Dec. 18.
