Musk denies James Murdoch taking over as Tesla's Chairman

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has denied that James Murdoch, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is going to replace him at electric car maker Tesla.

Reacting to a Financial Times report that claimed James Murdoch was going to join Tesla as Chairman, Musk tweeted on Thursday that this was not true.

"This is incorrect," tweeted Musk, reacting to the report.

James Murdoch, who serves as a director on Tesla's board, is set to end his innings as 21st Century Fox's CEO.

Media reports have also thrown names like former Vice President Al Gore and Jim McNerney of Boeing as potential candidates to lead Tesla.

Coming under pressure from his lawyers and investors of Tesla, the tech billionaire on September 29 agreed to step down as Tesla Chairman for three years and paid a $20 million fine, in a deal with the US stock market regulatory authority, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to resolve securities fraud charges.

Tesla paid another $20 million to the SEC, despite not being charged with fraud.

Musk is still the CEO of Tesla.

--IANS

na/ksk