Tesla IS Elon Musk. But with his government workload at DOGE, on top of five other companies he leads, it’s worth asking: Who could run it better?
It’s unlikely Musk would step down. And if he did, there’s no obvious internal successor to lead the EV maker through its current turmoil as sales fall and its stock has slid 50% in recent months.
But Forbes looked at several people who could be viable replacements, including the CEO of battery recycler and components maker Redwood Materials, the carmaker’s top executive for automotive operations below Musk, and an executive from BYD, one of the company’s battery suppliers in China.
FIRST UP
Genetic testing company 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday to initiate the process of selling off its assets, while the troubled firm’s co-founder Anne Wojcicki—who has attempted to take the company private—stepped down from her role with the intent to become an outside bidder. 23andMe went public in 2021 and its market capitalization peaked at $6 billion, with Wojcicki becoming a billionaire, but its share price has plummeted by more than 99% as it failed to turn a profit.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Sunday for a snap election to be held April 28, saying he wants a strong mandate as the country faces a “significant threat” from President Donald Trump and his administration’s tariff war with Canada. An Abacus poll released last week found 50% of Canadians rank Trump and his administration as one of their top three issues facing the country, second only to the rising cost of living.
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BUSINESS + FINANCE
In an all-hands meeting last week, Elon Musk urged Tesla employees to “hang on to your stock,” despite mounting concerns about the impacts of Musk’s role in the Trump Administration on his day job as the EV maker’s CEO. Shares of Tesla rose Friday by 5%, and the meeting was Musk’s most prominent appearance with the company since its January earnings call.
President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have had growing ties with the United Arab Emirates for years, and now, the UAE is reportedly investing $1.4 trillion in the U.S. economy over the next decade. The investments include funding for AI infrastructure, semiconductors and U.S.-based manufacturers, Bloomberg reported.
WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ILLUSTRATION BY PHILIP SMITH FOR FORBES, CSA/GETTY IMAGES
As U.S. markets falter, foreign stocks are up 9% so far this year. Forinvestors looking to join the flight overseas, there are a few factors to consider: how much the funds charge, whether to put money in emerging markets, and if a mutual or exchange-traded fund is better. Keep in mind that dividends collected by U.S. citizens are first taxed in the payer’s home country, typically at a 15% rate, and then by the U.S. If your foreign fund is held in a taxable account, you can recover some or all of the foreign tax via a credit against your U.S. tax bill.
TECH + INNOVATION
Google has been turning to AI to help process a backlog of data requests from government and law enforcement agencies, but sources told Forbes that such tools have so far failed to do what is needed of them. Now 10 engineers charged with developing the AI have been sacked, and the fate of the project has been thrown into doubt, staff said.
MONEY + POLITICS
After signing an executive order to begin the process of closing the Department of Education, President Donald Trump said Friday the federal government’s $1.8 trillion student loan portfolio will move to the Small Business Administration, while school nutrition and special needs programs will be run by the Health and Human Services Department. But education advocates have raised concerns that moving student loans to a different department would complicate the system.
SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT
Last week’s Boston Celtics sale for $6.1 billion, the biggest U.S. sports deal in history, was led by William “Bill” Chisholm, a Boston-area native who grew up a Celtics fan, and has spent more than two decades working out of the limelight, buying and selling software firms. Forbes calculates that Chisholm is worth at least $1 billion. The NBA requires that the principal owner of a team own at least 15% of it, but he may not have to put that entire amount in right away since the purchase is a two-stage process that concludes after the 2027-2028 season.
WORLD
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede saida planned visit to the island by Second Lady Usha Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright later this week is an act of “clear provocation,” amid Trump’s continued threats to annex the territory and bring it under U.S. control. In an interview with the Greenlandic news outlet Sermitsiaq, Egede said there was no way the trip could be chalked up as a “harmless visit from a politician's wife” and asked: “What is the national security advisor doing in Greenland?”
Germany and the United Kingdom arewarning citizens about travel to the U.S. after several high-profile incidents in which tourists and U.S. green-card holders trying to enter the country were detained. If large numbers of foreign tourists avoid the U.S., it could cost the economy tens of billions, and the U.K. is the largest market for inbound foreign tourists after Canada and Mexico.
TRENDS + EXPLAINERS
Social Security beneficiaries who are overpaid could see their tax refunds and other payments withheld—even when the overpayment is no fault of their own. Starting this week, the Social Security Administration will notify beneficiaries that it will withhold 100% of future benefits checks to make up for any overpayments, up from the current overpayment withholding rate of 10% set by the Biden Administration.
DAILY COVER STORY
Can Netflix Become The Netflix Of Gaming?
Netflix wants to build more “interactive experiences” from its popular homegrown shows and movies, as it has done with 'Squid Game.'
NETFLIX
As one analyst recently put it, “Netflix has won the streaming wars.” Now, the streaming giant is putting money behind a future in video games.
By fall 2023, according to widely cited reports, Netflix had spent $1 billion on gaming**,** buying up four smaller development studios and building two of its own in California and Helsinki, Finland, and publishing dozens of titles for mobile devices, including tower defense game Bloons TD and graphic adventure Oxenfree. Analysts believe the company likely spent another $1 billion on gaming in 2024 alone, increasing its offering to 140 games made available to anyone with a Netflix subscription, all without ads or in-app microtransactions.
Traction in the gaming marketplace has been harder to come by. Netflix’s portfolio of mobile apps have recorded 192 million downloads, according to data provider Apptopia, and daily active user counts hover around 1.1 million, each fractional compared to mobile publisher competitors and even smaller in relation to Netflix’s overall subscriber base.
“We’re not yet the Netflix of games,” Netflix president of games Alain Tascan said last week while presenting at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. “But that’s exactly where we’re headed.”
Moving forward, Netflix Games will focus on the development of more games that can be played inside the Netflix app on connected smart TVs, where 70% of Netflix viewership already happens, utilizing phones as the controller via a mobile app. The company also wants to create casual party games that can “replace family game night,” and make more offerings for younger children, which Tascan says make up 15% of Netflix’s linear entertainment viewing hours.
WHY IT MATTERS This evolution from linear, passive entertainment on Netflix to more interactive experiences makes a lot of sense, in theory. The $180 billion gaming industry now dwarfs the size of traditional Hollywood movies and television (estimated at $100 billion annually), and has become the preferred pastime for younger generations. As far back as 2019, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos cited Fortnite as its major competitor for user attention—no doubt one of the reasons the company hired Tascan, who worked previously as an executive at Epic Games on Fortnite.
MOREEpic Games’ Unreal Money Engine
FACTS + COMMENTS
Tomorrow is Equal Pay Day, and findings from an Indeed study show a mixed picture on the gender pay gap. While more job listings include salaries, women could be set back by dwindling remote work opportunities:
83 cents: The amount women made for every dollar earned by men in 2024, a number that has barely budged in five years
20%: The decline in remote work opportunities, which can help women stay in the workforce, from their pandemic peak
60%: The share of U.S. job postings that contained at least some salary information as of February, up from just 18% in 2020
STRATEGY + SUCCESS
You’ve probably been told to avoid “burning any bridges” at some point in your career. But not every professional relationship is valuable, especially if it’s one that is toxic or unproductive. Every situation is different, some connections fade naturally, while others might require explicit, yet professional communication. If so, the key is to be clear and respectful while aiming to avoid any conflict.
VIDEO
QUIZ
Sotheby’s is set to put a rare diamond up for auction in May that could fetch $20 billion. What is the name of the diamond?
A. The Atlantic Sapphire
B. The Mediterranean Blue
C. The Arctic Star
D. The Persian Blue
Check your answer.
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
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