Elon Musk Tells Court He Doesn't Want To Be CEO Of Any Company: 'My Role Is More That Of An Engineer'

Tesla Inc TSLA, Twitter, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reportedly said at a court hearing Thursday that he doesn't want to lead any company.

What Happened: Musk said at the trial in Delaware over his 2018 CEO pay package that his leadership at Twitter was not permanent. 

"I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time," said Musk, reported CNBC.

Explaining his role at different companies to the court, Musk said, "At SpaceX, it's really that I'm responsible for the engineering of the rockets and Tesla for the technology in the car that makes it successful," according to the report.

"CEO is often viewed as somewhat of a business-focused role but in reality, my role is much more that of an engineer developing technology and making sure that we develop breakthrough technologies and that we have a team of incredible engineers who can achieve those goals."

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Why It Matters: Musk said at the trial that it was his experience that "great engineers will only work for a great engineer. That is my first duty, not that of CEO," reported CNBC.

The lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Richard Tornetta, who alleged that it was unnecessary to motivate the billionaire with a compensation package. Tornetta is vying to axe the package valued in 2018 at $56 billion.

Tornetta alleges that the package was paid to a part-time executive, who conceived of the package and dictated its fundamental terms — referring to Musk's roles across multiple companies.

James Murdoch, a Tesla director, testified in court on Wednesday that Elon Musk, in the last few months, has identified someone as a potential successor to lead the company, reported Reuters.

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