Tesla names director Robyn Denholm as chairwoman
11-08-18, 10:21 AM
#1
Tesla names director Robyn Denholm as chairwoman
She was the CFO of an Australian telecom company
Tesla Inc. has ended weeks of speculation by promoting one of the electric carmaker's independent directors, Australian accountant Robyn Denholm, to replace Elon Musk as chairman.
The change in structure at the Silicon Valley firm, agreed to by Musk in a September court settlement with regulators, is supported by many on Wall Street who worry that his erratic behavior is undermining the company's progress.
Analysts and investors have expressed concern that it must be a strong independent figure who can rein in the billionaire's public outbursts and bring more order to Tesla.
Denholm has been an independent director of Tesla since 2014 and heads its audit committee. She was paid $5 million, mainly in stock options, by the company last year, making her the highest remunerated of its board members.
"I think an external candidate would have been the better choice," NordLB analyst Frank Schwope said. "She is the easiest way for Elon Musk to continue as so far."
Denholm is currently chief financial officer at Australian telecoms operator Telstra Corp Ltd. She started her career at collapsed global accounting firm Arthur Andersen and has also worked at Toyota and Sun Microsystems.
"I don't jump out of planes or bungie jump or any of that stuff," she told The Australian in 2011. "But I do take professional risks. You make the best decisions you can with all the information you have — and you have to move quickly. You're not pushing hard enough if you never make mistakes."
While Tesla is finally starting to make good on Musk's promises on production of the Model 3 sedan, seen as crucial to the company's future, it has lost senior executives for sales, human resources, manufacturing and finance in recent months.
Its vice president for manufacturing Gilbert Passin was reported last month to have left.
The company has seen months of turbulence related to the public behavior of Musk, whose gift for self-promotion has made Tesla one of the world's most talked-about businesses while causing spats with journalists, analysts, Wall Street investors and rapper Azealia Banks.
He is being sued for calling one of the divers behind this year's Thai cave rescue a "pedo."
According to The Australian, Denholm, 55, says the only things that really disappoint her are rudeness and waste.
"I don't like people wasting resources, or if people and entities don't live up to their potential. And politeness costs you absolutely nothing. It doesn't matter whether you are the most senior person in the room, or the most junior," she told the paper.
She takes over as Tesla's chair immediately and will leave her role as CFO and head of strategy at Telstra once her six-month notice period with the company is complete, Tesla said. She was named as Telstra's CFO in July.
She will serve as chair on a full-time basis and will also temporarily step down as chair of Tesla's audit committee until she leaves Telstra.
The change in structure at the Silicon Valley firm, agreed to by Musk in a September court settlement with regulators, is supported by many on Wall Street who worry that his erratic behavior is undermining the company's progress.
Analysts and investors have expressed concern that it must be a strong independent figure who can rein in the billionaire's public outbursts and bring more order to Tesla.
Denholm has been an independent director of Tesla since 2014 and heads its audit committee. She was paid $5 million, mainly in stock options, by the company last year, making her the highest remunerated of its board members.
"I think an external candidate would have been the better choice," NordLB analyst Frank Schwope said. "She is the easiest way for Elon Musk to continue as so far."
Denholm is currently chief financial officer at Australian telecoms operator Telstra Corp Ltd. She started her career at collapsed global accounting firm Arthur Andersen and has also worked at Toyota and Sun Microsystems.
"I don't jump out of planes or bungie jump or any of that stuff," she told The Australian in 2011. "But I do take professional risks. You make the best decisions you can with all the information you have — and you have to move quickly. You're not pushing hard enough if you never make mistakes."
While Tesla is finally starting to make good on Musk's promises on production of the Model 3 sedan, seen as crucial to the company's future, it has lost senior executives for sales, human resources, manufacturing and finance in recent months.
Its vice president for manufacturing Gilbert Passin was reported last month to have left.
The company has seen months of turbulence related to the public behavior of Musk, whose gift for self-promotion has made Tesla one of the world's most talked-about businesses while causing spats with journalists, analysts, Wall Street investors and rapper Azealia Banks.
He is being sued for calling one of the divers behind this year's Thai cave rescue a "pedo."
According to The Australian, Denholm, 55, says the only things that really disappoint her are rudeness and waste.
"I don't like people wasting resources, or if people and entities don't live up to their potential. And politeness costs you absolutely nothing. It doesn't matter whether you are the most senior person in the room, or the most junior," she told the paper.
She takes over as Tesla's chair immediately and will leave her role as CFO and head of strategy at Telstra once her six-month notice period with the company is complete, Tesla said. She was named as Telstra's CFO in July.
She will serve as chair on a full-time basis and will also temporarily step down as chair of Tesla's audit committee until she leaves Telstra.
11-08-18, 12:37 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
^^^ was that really necessary? that was about 30 seconds in a 2.5 hour interview and the interviewer encouraged him to do it and he also said it's not something he regularly does as it doesn't do much for him.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
11-08-18, 12:39 PM
#4
^^^ was that really necessary? that was about 30 seconds in a 2.5 hour interview and the interviewer encouraged him to do it and he also said it's not something he regularly does as it doesn't do much for him.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
11-08-18, 01:47 PM
#5
Lexus Champion
As per the order from the SEC, which Mr. Musk agreed to a month ago, he gives up one of his two positions at Tesla: Elon Musk gives up the role as Chair of the board of directors to Robyn Denholm, who takes over as an independent Chair, but Elon Musk remains as CEO.
The role of the board of directors is to represent the (long term) interests of the shareholders, and the board is responsible for hiring and providing oversight of the company's executive. The executive on the other hand, led by the president or CEO, is responsible for daily management of the company.
The SEC wanted Mr. Musk to give up one of the positions so that he would not hold absolute control over Tesla, and wanted additional new, independent members of the board to provide strong oversight of Mr. Musk's communications.
11-08-18, 03:30 PM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
^^^ was that really necessary? that was about 30 seconds in a 2.5 hour interview and the interviewer encouraged him to do it and he also said it's not something he regularly does as it doesn't do much for him.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
I was being at least partly facetious. Yes, I know he's accomplished a lot...I never questioned that. But there are conflicting stories as to whether he habitually does it or not. And, lately, from press reports, he's been showing signs, in public, of not really being able to deal with his job very well. I don't see (or hear) what he says and does in private, so I won't comment on that.
However, since you are a moderator, if you feel the comment was not necessary, I won't argue, go ahead and delete my post and all of the other references to it.....I've always respected moderator decisions, and will continue to do so now.
Last edited by mmarshall; 11-08-18 at 04:06 PM.
11-08-18, 07:25 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Anyway, back to the topic, I think his mistake with the SEC will turn out to be a huge win by having a strong financial overseer as chairperson,
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11-08-18, 07:40 PM
#8
Lexus Champion
he says he's worked 80-120hrs a week for months so doesn't have a lot of private time plus even he admits the amount of work and pressure has made him a bit crazy lately. He's certainly not the first great in innovator to have quirks.
Anyway, back to the topic, I think his mistake with the SEC will turn out to be a huge win by having a strong financial overseer as chairperson,
11-08-18, 07:41 PM
#9
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^^^ was that really necessary? that was about 30 seconds in a 2.5 hour interview and the interviewer encouraged him to do it and he also said it's not something he regularly does as it doesn't do much for him.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
musk is a genius, a very hard worker, and a huge success. the world needs more elon musks.
11-08-18, 07:57 PM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
because he is an innovator and controls a public company he does have a lot more responsibility than your average joe, he is making cars that can drive itself, digging tunnels right now under my city if he screws up people will die. so it is very important that people hold him responsible for his actions, that's what sec had done and currently doj is enforcing i mean the whole point of this chairwomen is to hold him responsible. and i think we all can agree that drugs and alcohol impairs your mind.
Good points.
11-08-18, 08:28 PM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Now this strong overseer and soon-to-be beefed-up board of directors need to hire some experienced managers (with strong automotive experience) to help CEO Musk run the company on a daily basis. Offer some good bucks and hire someone from GM or Ford or Toyota North America.
11-08-18, 09:25 PM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
11-08-18, 10:59 PM
#13
Pole Position
that’s actually one of the specific responsibilities of a corporate board... The CEO answers to and is appointed by the board, not the other way around.
The board, under the leadership of its Chairman, is responsible for setting goals and strategy. That’s usually done in partnership with the CEO. The CEO is then responsible for the execution of the agreed strategy.
At Tesla, as Musk had dual roles be was broadly answerable to himself. It looks increasingly like the problems at Tesla largely came about because of the failure to separate responsibilities and because Tesla’s board failed to do its oversight job and let Musk act as if he were the owner of a private company. They let him operate autocratically. That’s understandable to some extent as Musk and Tesla are synonymous and clearly Musk is such a big part of their identity and culture, but when you are a public company you have to play by a different set of rules.
The board, under the leadership of its Chairman, is responsible for setting goals and strategy. That’s usually done in partnership with the CEO. The CEO is then responsible for the execution of the agreed strategy.
At Tesla, as Musk had dual roles be was broadly answerable to himself. It looks increasingly like the problems at Tesla largely came about because of the failure to separate responsibilities and because Tesla’s board failed to do its oversight job and let Musk act as if he were the owner of a private company. They let him operate autocratically. That’s understandable to some extent as Musk and Tesla are synonymous and clearly Musk is such a big part of their identity and culture, but when you are a public company you have to play by a different set of rules.
11-09-18, 12:17 AM
#14
This is bitter sweet because none of us will ever know, neither will this wonderful (I'm sure) lady, if she was brought on as chairwoman for her merits or for the new CA legislation passed that forces public companies to install token females on the board.
This new social justice diversity quota is just sad.
This new social justice diversity quota is just sad.
11-09-18, 06:05 AM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
This is bitter sweet because none of us will ever know, neither will this wonderful (I'm sure) lady, if she was brought on as chairwoman for her merits or for the new CA legislation passed that forces public companies to install token females on the board.
This new social justice diversity quota is just sad.
This new social justice diversity quota is just sad.