Can Tesla fire Elon Musk? Wall Street Tesla's board allegedly begins process to replace Musk as CEO - did he invent Tesla, is it true?

Several executive search firms were approached to find a successor around a month ago, the Wall Street Journal reported. But it added that the current status of the succession planning for the electric car-maker was not known.

Musk's net worth has plunged and Tesla stocks have fallen sharply amid a public backlash over his role in Donald Trump's government. He owns just under 13% of Tesla stock and is the largest shareholder.

The world's richest man has been leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has overseen the firing of tens of thousands of government employees. He has also supported far-right parties in Europe, which has led to protests against Musk and Tesla.

Elon Musk did not invent Tesla. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning are credited with founding Tesla in 2003. Musk was an early investor and later became the CEO, but he was not one of the original founders. This means that Tesla does has the capacity to fire Musk.

The company's shareholders would have to act. The reason the responsibility for this would have to fall on shareholders is that the current board of Tesla, which also has the power to remove him as CEO, is largely under Musk's control.

Reports on Tesla finding a new CEO, however, have been denied by the board of the company. Chair Robyn Denholm on Thursday said the media report on board members reaching out to recruitment firms to look for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk was "absolutely false". Denholm added that the board is highly confident in Musk's ability to continue "executing on the exciting growth plan ahead".