Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks via video link at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday committed to leading the electric vehicle-maker for the next five years.
“Yes, no doubt about that at all,” Musk said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.
Musk said he wants to keep his position as Tesla’s CEO to maintain control over the company. He wants to have “sufficient voting control” so he cannot be ousted by activist investors, he said.
“It’s not a money thing,” Musk said. “It’s a reasonable control thing over the future of the company.”
Musk’s comments come after some investors have questioned his dedication to Tesla.
He has been serving as a key advisor to President Donald Trump in leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has been a major focus for the tech billionaire in recent months. Musk said on the most recent Tesla earnings call that his time spent running DOGE would drop significantly by the end of May, but that he plans to spend a “day or two per week” on government work.
In April, Tesla reported a 20% drop in automotive revenue and a 71% drop in net income for the first quarter of 2025. The stock has had a volatile start to the year, and is down more than 12% year to date.
Shares of Tesla rose about 1% on Tuesday.
Musk’s effort to propel Trump back to the White House, and work within the Trump administration, fueled waves of protests against him and Tesla, and turned many prospective EV buyers away from the Tesla brand.
As Musk has become a more prominent figure in the Republican party, attacks have taken place at several Tesla showrooms and properties.
When asked on Tuesday if he takes the blowback to his political activity personally, Musk said yes.
“Well, it’s certainly fine to object to political things, but it’s not fine to resort to violence and hanging someone in effigy and death threats,” he said.
He said he plans to spend “a lot less” on political campaigns in the future.
Musk, who also serves as the CEO of SpaceX and owns other companies including xAI and the neurotech startup Neuralink, has big ambitions for his other ventures. He said his satellite internet service Starlink, which is currently owned and operated by SpaceX, could eventually stand alone as a separate public company.
“It’s possible that Starlink may go public at some point in the future,” he said.
–CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report
Correction: This story has been updated to state that the Qatar Economic Forum was in Doha. A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the city.
