Tesla board opened search for CEO to succeed Elon Musk: WSJ

About a month ago, with Tesla's stock sinking and some investors irritated about Elon Musk's White House focus, Tesla's board got serious about looking for Musk's successor, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday.

Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla's next chief executive, while tensions had been mounting at the company with sales and profits deteriorating rapidly, said the report.

The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the report. The current status of the succession planning couldn't be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning, the report added.

Tesla has been on a losing streak in the months since Musk began spending much of his time helping U.S. President Donald Trump slash federal spending. Last week, after the company said its first-quarter profit had plunged 71 percent, Musk told investors he would soon pivot back to his job at Tesla.