Given that Tesla was trying to set Musk's compensation at over 100 billion as of December[1], declaring their new CEO to be a rock and then not paying said rock would appear to be a solid interim strategy.
> The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The current status of the succession planning couldn’t be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning.
They have no choice at this point without facing consequences, including personal liability, for failing their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. The brand, currently, is toxic based on consumer polling and sales numbers. Even replacing him may not be enough to recover, if he continues to benefit from ownership of shares.
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[1]https://www.investopedia.com/elon-musks-multi-billion-dollar...
> The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The current status of the succession planning couldn’t be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning.
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