Tesla’s new chairman says Musk uses Twitter ‘wisely’

SYDNEY: Tesla Inc’s new chairman defended Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s frequent tweets, lending high-level support to a social media habit that’s set him and the company on a collision course with US regulators.

“Twitter is part of everyday business for many executives today,” Chairman Robyn Denholm said in an interview in Sydney on Wednesday. “From my perspective, he uses it wisely.”

Denholm became chairman on Nov. 7 after a tumultuous few weeks for the electric-car maker. Musk’s August tweet that he had secured funding to take the company private sent Tesla stock whipsawing and the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued. A settlement with the regulator was reached in September.


The SEC told Tesla then to get a grip on Musk’s communications. And Musk had to cede the role of chairman to improve oversight at the carmaker.

Denholm’s comments on Wednesday, following a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, are among her first in public since she replaced Musk. And they come days before the SEC and Musk face off in a US court over the executive’s use of Twitter.