Elon Musk has called the Wall Street Journal report a "deliberately false article" and an "extremely bad breach of ethics."

Musk has been spending a lot of time in Washington, D.C., as the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Tesla Inc.’s board of directors took steps toward finding Chief Executive Elon Musk’s successor earlier this month, as the EV maker’s stock sank while Musk prioritized his DOGE efforts, according to a new report.

Tesla, a big source of Musk’s wealth, bore the brunt of the public anger against him and his policies. Tesla’s stock dropped 33% since inauguration. The EV maker’s sales plummeted.

But we've made progress," Musk told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Newsweek contacted Musk for further comment via email to the Tesla press office on Friday. President Donald Trump 's DOGE has been one of the most radical initiatives to restructure the federal government in decades,