Tesla denies board search for Elon Musk’s successor; Trump tariffs to slash growth, says Bank of Japan – business live

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Tesla chair denies Musk successor search; Bank of Japan cuts forecasts on tariff shock

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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 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”.

“Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company. This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead. – Robyn Denholm”

It came after a report by the Wall Street Journal that said 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 that 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 that he would reduce his time leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to focus on the carmaker.

Note a small but important discrepancy between Denholm’s denial and the WSJ report: Denholm said that it was “absolutely false” that the “Tesla board had contacted recruitment firms”. The WSJ report suggested that “board members” made the contacts.

Bank of Japan cuts growth forecasts on Trump tariffs

Donald 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 Bank 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.

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda attends a press conference in Tokyo in March 2025.

The bank’s inflation forecast suggested that consumer prices would hit its 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 (March; previous: £1.36bn; consensus: £1.2bn)
9:30am BST: UK mortgage approvals (March; prev.: 65,481; cons.: 64,800)
9:30am BST: US initial jobless claims (March; prev.: 222,000; cons.: 224,000)

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Electricity pylons will need to be installed across major economies in the transition away from fossil fuels.

National Grid, the FTSE 100 company that owns the UK’s electricity network, has appointed Shell oil executive Zoë Yujnovich as chief executive after the retirement of John Pettigrew.

Yujnovich was until recently working at FTSE 100 oil company Shell, where she was director of integrated gas and upstream (oil production) and a member of the executive committee. She previously led the Iron Ore company of Canada, part of Rio Tinto.

Pettigrew intends to retire after serving as chief executive for nearly a decade.

Spain and Portugal’s huge power blackout on Monday have thrust public attention on something that the energy industry has been warning for a long time: electricity grids need huge investment to make them ready for the transition away from fossil fuels.

Yujnovich said:

I firmly believe in the vital function energy companies play in driving change and creating value. On both sides of the Atlantic National Grid has an essential role to play in making energy secure, affordable and reliable for our customers and communities. I’m excited about leading National Grid as it delivers on the growth opportunities ahead.

Bet365 owners consider £9bn sale of gambling empire

Denise Coates is Britain’s richest woman and the secretive founder of Bet365.

The billionaire Coates family behind Bet365 are weighing up a sale of their online gambling empire that could value the business at £9bn, the Guardian has learned.

The company, headed by Denise Coates, has held talks with Wall Street banks and US advisers in recent weeks about a full or partial sale, sources familiar with the matter said.

Informal discussions explored options for a potential sale, including a medium-term plan to float the business on a US stock exchange.

One option on the table includes a partial sale to a private equity investor, with the Coates family retaining a stake before an eventual listing. It could also see a spin-off of part of the business, rather than a full listing of the Stoke-on-Trent-based firm.

A second source said they were also aware of discussions with private equity groups about taking a pre-float stake.

One person with knowledge of the talks said Bet365 had reached the “beauty parade” stage, where companies sound out banks they think could help them extract maximum value from any deal.

Bet365 did not return requests for comment.

You can read the full story here:

The FTSE 100 has fallen by a mild 0.2% to 8,479 points in the opening trades on Thursday.