Tesla’s chair has denied that the electric car company is looking for a replacement for Elon Musk, after the billionaire spent several months focusing on serving Donald Trump even as the carmaker’s profits slumped. The US manufacturer posted a statement on X, the social network owned by Musk, from chair Robyn Denholm saying that the company was “highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead”, and claiming a report on possible successors was “erroneous”. The denial came after a report by the Wall Street Journal claiming that “Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions.” The report said the board members contacted the search firms a month ago, amid turmoil in Washington. After Tesla reported a 9% drop in sales in the first quarter of 2025, Musk announced he would reduce his time leading the 'department of government efficiency' to focus on the carmaker. (Note the small but important discrepancy between Denholm’s denial and the WSJ report: Denholm said it was “absolutely false” that the “Tesla board had contacted recruitment firms”. The WSJ report suggested that “board members” made the contacts.) Trump’s tariff chaos will cut economic growth in Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, according to new forecasts from its central bank. The Bank of Japan cut its economic growth forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2026 to 0.5%, down from 1.1% projected three months ago. It also slashed its growth forecast to a 0.7% expansion for the following fiscal year from 1.0% in January, according to Reuters. The BoJ said: 'Japan’s economic growth is likely to moderate as trade and other policies in each jurisdiction slow overseas growth and weigh on corporate profits. Thereafter, Japan’s economy will see growth accelerate as overseas economies resume a moderate growth path.' The bank’s inflation forecast suggested that consumer prices would hit the target of 2% annual growth towards the end of 2026, down from 3.6% in March 2025. The agenda • 9:30am BST: UK consumer credit borrowing • 9:30am BST: UK mortgage approvals • 9:30am BST: US initial jobless claims We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day …
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