Elon Musk commits to leading Tesla for next five years

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday committed to leading the electric vehicle-maker for the next five years.

"Yes, no doubt about that at all," Musk said in an interview at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

Musk's comments come after some investors have questioned his dedication to Tesla.

He has been serving as a key advisor to President Donald Trump in leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has been a major focus for the tech billionaire in recent months. The stock has had a volatile start to the year, and is down more than 12% year to date.

Shares of Tesla rose about 1% on Tuesday.

Musk said he wants to keep his position as Tesla's CEO to maintain control over the company. He wants to have "sufficient voting control" so he cannot be ousted by activist investors, he said.

"It's not a money thing," Musk said. "It's a reasonable control thing over the future of the company."

As Musk has become a more prominent figure in the Republican party, protests and attacks have taken place at several Tesla showrooms and properties. When asked on Tuesday if he takes the blowback to his political activity personally, Musk said yes.

"Well, it's certainly fine to object to political things, but it's not a it's not fine to resort to violence and hanging someone in effigy and death threats," he said.

He said he plans to spend "a lot less" on political campaigns in the future.

Musk, who also serves as the CEO of SpaceX and owns other companies including the social media site X and the neurotech startup Neuralink, has big ambitions for his other ventures. He said his satellite internet service Starlink, which is currently owned and operated by SpaceX, could eventually stand alone as a separate public company.

"It's possible that Starlink may go public at some point in the future," he said.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to state that the Qatar Economic Forum was in Doha. A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the city.