Robyn Denholm, A Chairwoman Co-driver for Elon Musk at Tesla

Robyn Denholm, A Chairwoman Co-driver for Elon Musk at Tesla

By Isabelle Chaboud, Associate Professor of Financial Analysis, Audit and Risk Management, Grenoble School of Management (GEM). First published in The Conversation la France.

Robyn Denholm, 55, was officially named on November 7, 2018 to replace the iconic Elon Musk as chairman of the board of Tesla, the US electric vehicle manufacturer. Why this choice ? Is it announcing a desire to profoundly reform a governance questioned by certain investors? Can she tame the whimsical boss? And can she really play her role independently?

The appointment comes in the wake of the SEC's sanctions against Elon Musk after the famous tweet of August 7, 2018, in which the automaker's boss said he planned to withdraw Tesla from the $ 420 stock market with guaranteed financing. Elon Musk had been fined $ 20 million and resigned as chairman of Tesla's board of directors. A function that he has been prohibited from exercising for at least three years. While some investors and stakeholders may welcome the separation of power between the CEO and the new Chair of the Board, others may see a new blow of communication and ask questions about the real independence of Robyn Denholm.

Why Robyn Denholm?

Karlie's Making Kookies & Not Koding As SpaceX Completes Historic Rocket Landing

Karlie Kloss Is Venus Bound In Maciek Kobielski SpaceX Snaps For WSJ Magazine December 2015 AOC Fashion & Style

After posing for WSJ's December feature on SpaceX and our analysis of the space race competition between founder Elon Musk (think Tesla Motors) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon), we thought Karlie might be cheering on her team's mega success space flight. No go. The closest Karlie got to hot flames in recent posts was a pic of her Kooking in the Kommissary at Momofuku Milk Bar. 

The South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, engineer, inventor and investor Elon Musk had a really big show yesterday when SpaceX successfully launched a rocket into space and brought the booster back to earth. Being able to recycle and reuse boosters -- which can easily cost $10 million a pop -- is key to making space travel affordable for the rich. 

When we wrote about SpaceX and Karlie in November, Bezos' Blue Origin had its own space rocket success story going on, also focused on reusability. . 

Take a look at yesterday's outstanding Space X launch and return. Read in-depth at WSJ: Elon Musk's SpaceX Completes Historic Rocket Landing

With this mission, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit for ORBCOMM, a leading global provider of Machine-to-Machine communication and Internet of Things solutions. The ORBCOMM launch is targeted for an evening launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.