Tesla Names Denholm to Replace Musk as Chair

Tesla Inc. has named board member Robyn Denholm to replace cofounder Elon Musk as its chair for at least three years. Musk will remain CEO.

Denholm joined Tesla’s board four years ago and is chief financial officer for Telstra Corp., the Australian telecommunications company. Telstra says she will resign as CFO within a few months.

Denholm has been a relatively independent board member compared with most other Tesla directors, who have business, friendship or family ties to Musk.

Her selection was the result of a settlement between Musk and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that required Musk to relinquish the chairmanship for three years. Tesla faced a Nov. 13 deadline to comply.

The $40 million settlement resolved an SEC lawsuit filed in September that claimed Musk misled investors by suggesting he had arranged funding to take the company private.