Inside the life of Australian Tesla chair Robyn Denholm

She is the Australian millionaire and chairman of Tesla and Elon Musk’s right-hand man – but little is actually known about Robyn Denholm’s life.

Ms Denholm, 60, lives in a $27.5 million penthouse on a waterfront reserve at Cremorne Point, on Sydney’s lower north shore.

The mother of two recently made headlines after a judge ruled that Musk was not entitled to the equivalent of an $85.3 billion compensation package awarded to him in 2018.

Judge Kathaleen McCormick, from the US state of Delaware, ruled that the pay package was ‘defective’ and the price ‘unfair’ as she took aim at the board, which also includes Ms Denholm and James Murdoch.

“Simply put, neither the compensation committee nor the board acted in the best interests of the company in negotiating Musk’s compensation plan,” Judge McCormick said.

“In fact, there is hardly any evidence of negotiations.”

The compensation plan, which helped make Musk the richest person in the world, consisted entirely of performance-based grants of Tesla stock, which Musk had to hold for a minimum of five years. Those shares will now be canceled.

The ruling came more than five years after a shareholder lawsuit targeted Musk and the company’s directors, accusing them of breaching their duties and unjustly enriching Musk.

Ms. Denholm joined Tesla’s board of directors in 2014 as an independent director and succeeded Musk as chairman in 2018.

Musk has described her contribution to the technology company as “amazing.”

She came in at 120 on the Australian Financial Review’s 2022 Rich List, with an estimated net worth of $1.18 billion.

The following year, her worth was estimated at $505 million.

Although the judge ruled that the Tesla chairman had no personal relationship with Musk, she said the “vast majority of her wealth” resulted from her compensation arising from her role within the tech company.

Ms Denholm also described the sale of Tesla shares in 2021 and 2022 for the equivalent of $425 million as “life-changing”.

Ms Denholm (pictured at the National Press Club in Canberra on September 14, 2022) joined Tesla’s board as an independent director in 2014 and succeeded Musk as chairman in 2018

Ms Denholm (pictured outside court in San Francisco) owns several properties in Sydney and has been on the AFR’s Rich List since 2021

The mother-of-two has an impressive property portfolio and also owns a house in the north coast suburb of Waverton, which she bought for $2.5 million in 2003.

In 2020, Ms Denholm bought a beachfront weekender in Whale Beach, 40km north of Sydney’s CBD, for $6.25 million.

Ms. Denholm is also in for another big windfall and is about to sell 281,116 Tesla shares for $80 million.

But despite her incredible wealth, Ms. Denholm comes from humble beginnings.

Growing up, she pumped gas at her family’s gas station in Sydney’s west before studying economics at the University of Sydney.

Her parents had moved from North Africa to Australia before her birth, with Ms Denholm partly crediting her success to her mother and father, who discussed business and politics with their children every day at the dinner table.

Pictured is the dining room of Mrs Denholm’s penthouse in Cremorne Point

Her illustrious career has also seen her take on roles as Chief Operating Officer, Head of Strategy and CFO of Telstra, and as Operating Partner of investment company Blackbird.

She also has a 30 percent stake in the Sydney Kings basketball team through her family investment office Wollemi Capital Group.

Ms Denholm is seen as the one to rein in Musk, who is no stranger to controversy, especially through his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Still, the chairman is careful with her words when she speaks about the billionaire technology mogul.

“I mean, from my perspective, he’s been great to work with,” she told the AFR in 2021.

“The world would be much better off if we had more Elons and more people like that who can create bold ambitions and actually achieve them.”

Ms Denholm is seen as the one to rein in Musk, who is no stranger to controversy