Tesla Names Robyn Denholm to Replace Elon Musk as Chair
*By Carlo Versano*
Elon Musk will have someone to answer to at Tesla.
The electric carmaker announced late Wednesday that Robyn Denholm would take Musk's place as chair of the board. Denholm, a Tesla ($TSLA) board member, will leave her job as chief financial officer of Telstra, an Australian telco giant and inherit Musk's chairman duties full-time in six months when her notice period is complete, the company said in a [statement](https://www.tesla.com/blog/announcing-robyn-denholm). She will temporarily resign as chair of Tesla's audit committee while she completes her time at Telstra.
Musk had agreed to step down as chairman as part of a deal he struck with the SEC to settle charges that he manipulated the stock price when he sent that infamous "funding secured" tweet in August. He also agreed to a pay a $20 million fine as part of that settlement.
Denholm is no stranger to the machinations of Silicon Valley. She held top positions at Juniper Networks ($JNPR) and Sun Microsystems, as well as Toyota ($TM). Her deep background in corporate finance should help soothe the worries of Tesla investors that the company's balance sheet is in need of stabilizing.
"I believe in this company, I believe in its mission and I look forward to helping Elon and the Tesla team achieve sustainable profitability and drive long-term shareholder value," Denholm said in the statement.
Tesla shares had been on a roller-coaster ride this year but were on the rise since the company reported a record quarterly profit and beat expectations on vehicle deliveries.
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President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
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