Tech billionaire and close White House advisor Elon Musk took to X, attacking the Wall Street Journal in the early hours of Thursday after it reported the Tesla board contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company.
"This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published)," Tesla said from its X account. "The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead."
Longtime Senate veteran Jim Manley asked, "Are you high on ketamine? Also, how many kids do you have?"
CNN reporter Hadas Gold said, "WSJ denies this. Spox tells me 'We stand by our reporting. Tesla was given the opportunity to provide a statement before publication, which they did not do.'"
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"Swords of truth are painful when newspaper report them," said Julia Hobsbawm, founder and CEO of Workathon and The World Work Organization.
Tech wizardAaron Greenspan commented, "If the Tesla Board had any actual concern about Elon Musk, you know, they could have just fired him for demanding a $56 billion pay package and then not showing up to work for three months. Appointing an interim CEO is not an impossible feat. Instead, they are trying to impress a court."
Musk allies attacked the Wall Street Journal for the report, saying they'd lost their journalistic integrity. One hand surgeon named Yevgeny Shuhatovich accused the Journal of going "woke" due to the three female bylines on the story.
Others pointed out that overnight Tesla's stock fell 4%.