1. Robyn M Denholm is an Australian business executive and former accountant who is chair of Tesla, Inc In November 2018, Denholm was handpicked by Elon Musk to succeed him as chair of Tesla, Inc Prior to her appointment, she was relatively unknown.
Robyn Denholm is the highest-paid chair of any public company in the United States.
Robyn Denholm's parents met and married in Tripoli, Libya, immigrating to Australia in the 1950s.
Robyn Denholm has Maltese and Italian ancestry on her father's side and Maltese and Scottish ancestry on her mother's side; her father spoke five languages.
Robyn Denholm grew up in the Sydney suburb of Lugarno with her older brother and younger sister.
Robyn Denholm's father worked as a welder and her mother was a ledger machine operator.
Robyn Denholm handled the financial accounts, repaired cars, pumped petrol and became interested in cars.
Robyn Denholm graduated from the University of Sydney with a bachelor's degree in economics, and from the University of New South Wales in 1999 with a master's degree in commerce.
Robyn Denholm is a chartered accountant and a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
Robyn Denholm became the vice president of finance for Toyota Australia in 1989, a position she held for seven years.
Robyn Denholm joined the finance division of Sun Microsystems in 1996, and relocated to Sun's offices in the United States in 2001.
Robyn Denholm took a position at Juniper Networks in 2007 where she rose to the position of chief financial officer.
Robyn Denholm joined Tesla's board in 2014 as a director and chair of the audit committee, receiving approximately US$17 million in stock options during her tenure.
Robyn Denholm moved back to Sydney in 2017, when she took a job as chief operations officer at Telstra in early 2017 and was appointed chief financial officer on 1 October 2018, a role she held until May 2019.
Robyn Denholm was appointed chair of Tesla in November 2018, following a settlement between Tesla, Elon Musk, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission requiring Musk to step down from the role after his controversial 2018 tweet about taking Tesla private.
Robyn Denholm has faced scrutiny, including judicial criticism, over her independence as Chair, and the outsized compensation packages awarded to her and to Musk, which she has defended pointing out that Tesla's market value increased substantially under their leadership.
Beyond Tesla, Robyn Denholm has remained active in investment and sports.
In 2023, Robyn Denholm was ranked 80th on the Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women and was ranked 95th on Fortune's Most Powerful Women list.
Robyn Denholm is married to David Taylor, a retired electrical engineer.
Robyn Denholm has a son and a daughter from a previous marriage.
Robyn Denholm had her son at age 24 and she had her daughter in 1993.
Robyn Denholm moved from Sydney to Colorado with her children in 2001.