Tesla's board chair suggested today that there are no restraints on Elon Musk's political activities. He'll be measured "on results and what he does as CEO of Tesla."

• Why it matters: Chair Robyn Denholm dismissed questions in a Bloomberg Television interview related to what many analysts have suggested — that Musk's political activity over the past year had negatively impacted Tesla's EV sales.

🗣️ Zoom in: "What he does from a personal perspective in terms of his political motivations is up to him," Denholm said.

• Tesla's strategy is to keep Musk focused and motivated front and center at the company, she said.
• 🤑 And the target-laden compensation package the company has proposed for him is a tool designed to meet that goal — a potentially $1 trillion carrot to occupy an "outsized proportion" of Musk's time, effort and energy on Tesla for the next 10 years.

📉 State of play: Tesla's annual vehicle deliveries declined in 2024, a slump many attribute in part to the backlash from Musk's political turn. That included heavy campaigning for President Trump, a controversial period leading the Department of Government Efficiency, and then a public fallout with Trump over the country's budgeting priorities.

• Over that period, Tesla has ceded market share to other manufacturers. In August, its share of sales dropped below 40% for the first time since 2017.

The bottom line: Tesla's board is convinced that Musk is the best person to deliver value for Tesla. Keeping him focused is its biggest challenge.

Go deeper

"I didn't know what to put for this next headline, so I just kept it simple, 'tariffs, tariffs and the possibility for more tariffs.' Just when you might have thought the tariff conversation was complete, the announcement of a new furniture investigation and the possibility for additional furniture tariffs on top of existing furniture tariffs and incremental steel and aluminum tariffs were introduced with the goal of returning furniture manufacturing back to America."

🔋 Stellantis is ending development of an EV version of its Ram 1500 pickup, citing slowing demand for full-size battery electric trucks. (Automotive News)

🪧 Boeing workers at the company's St. Louis-area defense factories rejected a modified contract offer, and will remain in strike. (Reuters)

🚙 Lendbuzz, an AI-based fintech focused on car financing, filed for an IPO. (CNBC)

Swiss watchmaker Swatch isn't digging the 39% tariff rate the U.S. has imposed against Switzerland, but that doesn't mean it can't try to have a little fun with it.

What's happening: The company launched a limited-edition model in Switzerland with the 3 and 9 digits reversed on the face, CNBC reports.

• It's a protest against the tariff rate, on sale for 139 Swiss francs.

The big picture: The company is hoping neither thing — the watch nor the tariff — lasts very long: "As soon as the United States changes its customs duties towards Switzerland, we will immediately stop selling this watch," a company spokesperson tells CNBC.