# Robyn Denholm

Robyn M. Denholm (/ˈdɛnhoʊm/; née Sammut; born 27 May 1963) 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. She is the highest-paid chair of any public company in the United States.

## Early life

Denholm was born 27 May 1963 in Milperra, New South Wales. Her parents met and married in Tripoli, Libya, immigrating to Australia in the 1950s. She 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.
Denholm grew up in the Sydney suburb of Lugarno with her older brother and younger sister. Her father worked as a welder and her mother was a ledger machine operator. When she was seven years old, the family purchased a service station and workshop in Milperra. Denholm handled the financial accounts, repaired cars, pumped petrol and became interested in cars. She attended Peakhurst High School.
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. Denholm is a chartered accountant (generally equivalent to a certified public accountant in the United States) and a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

## Career

After graduating, Denholm worked in accountancy for Arthur Andersen in Sydney. This was followed by seven years at Toyota Australia. Denholm worked at the IT companies Sun Microsystems, and then Juniper Networks for nine years in finance and operations roles, rising to chief financial officer (CFO) of Juniper.
In 2014, Denholm became a non-executive director on the board of directors of Tesla, Inc. In the following four years as a non-executive director of Tesla, including as chair of the audit committee, Denholm received US$17 million in Tesla stock options.
In early 2017, Denholm was appointed as chief operations officer (COO) of Telstra, Australia's largest telecoms company, subsequently becoming chief financial officer on 1 October 2018, which held until May 2019.
In November 2018, Denholm was appointed chair of Tesla Inc's board of directors, replacing Elon Musk. During her time on the board, the company's value has grown significantly. In March 2025, it was reported that Denholm was the highest-paid chair of any public company in the US having being awarded $682 million in cash and stock since she 2014, of which she has sold $532 million worth of stock. She was criticized by an American judge for approving a $56 billion payout to Elon Musk for his work as chairman, which would be the record compensation for a CEO.
In January 2021, Denholm became an operating partner at Blackbird Ventures, a venture capital firm.
In 2022, Denholm's family office Wollemi Capital Group purchased a 30% stake in the Sydney Kings and Sydney Uni Flames basketball teams.
In 2023, she ranked 80th in the Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women". She was also listed in the Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.

## Personal life

Denholm is married to David Taylor, a retired electrical engineer. She has a son and a daughter from a previous marriage. She had her son at age 24 and she had her daughter in 1993. She moved from Sydney to Colorado with her children in 2001.

### Net worth

Denholm debuted on The Australian Financial Review Rich List in 2021 with a net worth of A$688 million.
| Year | Financial Review Rich List | Financial Review Rich List | Forbes Australia's 50 Richest | Forbes Australia's 50 Richest |
| Year | Rank | Net worth (A$) | Rank | Net worth (US$) |
| 2021 | 162 | $688 million | | |
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