Tesla‘s Board of Directors has announced that Robyn Denholm has been appointed as chair of the Tesla Board, effective immediately. So that she will be able to devote her full attention to the Tesla chair role, Denholm will be leaving her role as CFO and head of Strategy at Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, once her six-month notice period with Telstra is complete. She will be serving as Tesla chair on a full-time basis.
The change of chair – Elon Musk was in the role – follows regulatory censure after controversial tweets from Musk about taking the company private. Tesla said that ‘Elon will be a resource to Robyn and provide any support that she requests in her role as chair’.
Denholm has served on the Tesla Board as an independent director since 2014. Her global experience in both Australia and Silicon Valley encompasses leadership roles across a range of technology companies, including Telstra, Juniper Networks, and Sun Microsystems. She is widely credited with leading a team that drove significant increases in Juniper’s revenues, overseeing Juniper’s corporate transformation during her nine-year tenure as chief financial and operations officer. Her experience also includes numerous finance management roles in the automotive industry while at Toyota.
“I believe in this company, I believe in its mission and I look forward to helping Elon and the Tesla team achieve sustainable profitability and drive long-term shareholder value,” Denholm said.
“Robyn has extensive experience in both the tech and auto industries, and she has made significant contributions as a Tesla Board member over the past four years in helping us become a profitable company,” said Musk. “I look forward to working even more closely with Robyn as we continue accelerating the advent of sustainable energy.”
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