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Musk to retire chairman role at Tesla in three years after interview backlash

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk has said he intends to retire the role of chairman at the electric car manufacturer in three years time, having only stepped down from the role several weeks earlier.

Tweeting in the aftermath of his conversation with CBS' 60 Minutes, Musk said: "Chairman is an honorific, not executive role, which means it's not needed to run Tesla. Will retire that title in three years."

Former chairman Musk appeared to say in the interview that he had handpicked his successor, Robyn Denholm, and added: "I am the largest shareholder in the company. I can just call for a shareholder vote and get anything done that I want."

Musk, who also runs other businesses such as rocket firm Space X, later claimed his sentence had been cut short in editing. A full transcript provided by CBS clarified his full statement to have said: "So essentially I could just call for a shareholder vote and get anything done that I want, provided I could get [the] support of at least 1/3 of the other shareholders."

Musk was forced to step down as Tesla chairman last month as part of a settlement deal with the US securities watchdog, after the regulator took issue with an attempt to take the firm private in August. 

In a now-infamous tweet on 7 August, the entrepreneur said that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share, causing wild share price swings and two months of controversy. He later abandoned the buyout plans, and alongside Tesla, paid $20m (£16m) in fines.

He was also barred from serving as chairman of a public company for three years, but allowed to continue on as Tesla's chief executive officer. Tesla's own bylaws state that should a chairperson not be appointed, the chief executive would assume all responsibilities as long as they have the board's permission.