Top Tesla investor says company is 'better run' after leadership shuffle

Tesla Inc's biggest institutional investor considers the company to be "better run" after its regulatory battles following the hiring of independent directors to oversee Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

"We thought he was getting things wrong," James Anderson, head of global equities for Baillie Gifford, told the newspaper, referring to the company's founder. "I feel more comfortable now."

Anderson said the appointment as chairwoman of Robyn Denholm, one of the company's independent board members since 2014, was a decisive move, according to the report.

Tesla named Denholm as board chair in 2018, fulfilling a demand by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to strip the job from Musk to settle fraud charges against him and Tesla.

Tesla and Baillie Gifford did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a recent interview with Barron's, Anderson expressed his support for Musk, but said "I don't think he needs to be CEO."