Robyn Denholm begins a new job this week. And it happens to be one of the biggest in corporate Australia.
The former Juniper Networks and Sun Microsystems executive, who is highly regarded by those who know her, commences duties as chief financial officer of Telstra, the monolithic telco operator, and the most widely held stock in Australia.
Elon Musk will step down as Tesla chairman.Credit: Bloomberg
She is also a non-executive director of Tesla Inc - the high profile electric car and solar energy company, which is bleeding cash, scrambling to meet production deadlines, and led by Elon Musk, whose past few months must rank among the most extraordinary for a corporate leader in history.
It's an unusual situation, and many observers of both Telstra and Tesla are wondering how long it will persist.
Over the weekend, we learned that changes are finally coming to the Tesla board. But whether they could extend to Denholm remains unclear.
Musk settled fraud charges with America's powerful securities regulator over tweets he made earlier this year claiming financing to take the $US45 billion ($62.3 billion) company private had been secured.
According to the settlement, Musk will relinquish the chairman's seat at Tesla for at least three years. But he will remain chief executive of the company. (Contrary to corporate governance norms in Australia and many other parts of the world, the same person can and often does hold these two important roles in the US.).
The company will appoint two new independent directors to its board, and establish a new committee to oversee Musk's communications with investors, which probably means no more Ambien-infused tweets.
Musk and Tesla will also each pay $US20 million in fines, with the $US40 million in proceeds to be distributed to harmed investors.
It is difficult to see this as anything other than a victory for Musk. Expect Tesla shares, which were smashed last week as news of the regulatory investigation first surfaced, to bounce back.
But he and Tesla (and the rest of the board) are not out of the woods yet.
The company is also being investigated by the US Department of Justice in a criminal probe, according to widespread reports. It could also be exposed to class action lawsuits stemming from the buyout claims made by Musk.
Telstra's incoming finance chief and Tesla board member Robyn Denholm.Credit: Ben Rushton
How all of this might affect Denholm is unclear. Through a Telstra spokesperson, she ruled herself out of the running for the Tesla chairmanship vacated by Musk. But Denholm declined to answer further questions, including whether she plans to stay on the board until the end of her term in 2020, and whether the dual roles are workable.
It's not unreasonable to think this could all be incredibly distracting. Telstra has had a torrid past year itself. Not long ago, the company's share price was languishing near seven-year lows as the company faced intense competition in mobiles and on the national broadband network. The company is embarking on a massive cost-cutting drive that will result in thousands of employees being let go.
The company's dividend is cherished by many of the 1.4 million Australian mums, dads and retirees who own the stock. Telstra paid out $US3.15 billion in dividends to its shareholders last year.
All of which is to say, the CFO role is a critical one. Andy Penn, Telstra's CEO, knows this all too well. He held the position before he was promoted to the top job in 2015. And he has expressed confidence Denholm will be able to manage both roles.
Maybe that's right. Maybe the settlement with regulators will in fact precipitate an era of calm at Tesla, eliminating any distractions as Telstra tries to get its act together.
For anyone who has followed Musk's' career path, or tracked the rise of Tesla, that will seem highly unlikely.