Could Tesla survive without CEO Elon Musk?

Could Tesla survive without Elon Musk?

An automaker with an irreplaceable CEO such as Musk is a throwback.

With coverage of Tesla increasingly dominated by the personality and peccadilloes of CEO Elon Musk, a question that has long lurked around the edges of discourse on the company is becoming harder to ignore: What would happen if Musk was no longer Tesla’s CEO?

For many investors, Tesla without Musk is like mornings without coffee: Why bother?

“Why would you invest in Tesla without Elon Musk?” asked Ross Gerber of wealth management firm Gerber Kawasaki, a vocal Tesla supporter and investor. “It doesn’t make sense.”

And yet, replacing Musk has become a hot topic in the past week, following an emotional and, at times, painful-to-read interview Musk gave The New York Times this month. The newspaper quoted…