Tesla on the move

Australian Robyn Denholm has been appointed Tesla board of directors’ chair after Elon Musk stepped down from the role as part of his Securities and Exchange Commission settlement.

She will leave her job as chief financial officer and strategy head at Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, once her six-month notice period with Telstra is complete.

Tesla chief executive Musk will support Denholm, Tesla says. She will also temporarily step down as chair of Tesla’s audit committee until she leaves Telstra.

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. Her experience includes numerous finance management roles in the automotive industry while at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia for seven years.

Denholm was also a director of ABB for a year from April 2016 and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia, holding an economics degree in from the University of Sydney and a master’s degree in commerce from the University of New South Wales.

“I look forward to helping Elon and the Tesla team achieve sustainable profitability and drive long-term shareholder value,” Denholm says.

Her appointment comes at a good time for Tesla which has achieved a net profit of US$312 million in the third quarter and stepped up Model 3 production which has helped up EV sales in Canada to a record 8% of new car sales.

The Model 3’s safety features were highlighted in a recent incident in the US state of Washington when a nearly 17kg boulder smashed into the car, shattering much of the windscreen and landing in the passenger’s seat. The uninjured driver was able to stop safely.

Meanwhile, Tesla has released the next generation Roadster – a prototype appearing in a recent Los Angeles exhibition with visitors sharing images of it on social media.