One of the main candidates to be the future successor to Elon Musk at the helm of Tesla, Zachary Kirkhorn, has left his position at the electric car manufacturer. Kirkhorn resigned on August 4, as reported by the US company, which has stressed that he will continue to serve in an unspecified position until the end of the year “to support a smooth transition.” He was one of the company’s four CEOs and a leading voice among shareholders.
“He did a 13-year tour of duty working for Elon, which is like working 50 years for anyone else,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. “The fact that he is staying until the end of the year bodes well for the transition,” he added. His position will be filled by Vaibhav Taneja, Accounting Director, who will assume both functions. Taneja, 45, held various positions at the electric vehicle maker before becoming chief accountant in 2019. He previously worked at PWC in India and the US. Tesla shares fell mid-session Monday around a 3%.
Kirkhorn’s departure comes as Tesla is building a new factory in Mexico and preparing to bring its Cybertruck pickup to market as it tries to defend its dominant position in the electric vehicle segment. Due to increasing competition, the carmaker has launched an aggressive price reduction in China, the US and Europe.
Even so, the departure of the manager, considered one of the main candidates to succeed Musk as CEO, renews the uncertainty about the leadership at Tesla. It also instantly raises the profile of Taneja, who was not among the 16 executives invited to take the stage with Musk at an investor meeting in March. Kirkhorn joined Tesla in 2010 as a senior financial analyst and was promoted five times, most recently to chief financial officer in early 2019 at the age of 34. Before taking office, Tesla had a long record of losses, occasionally burning through more than $1 billion in cash every quarter. The company has been consistently profitable ever since and has paid off about $10 billion of debt in the past three years, helping it earn investment-grade ratings. It also joined the S&P 500 Index in December 2020.
“Zach did a great job expanding the margins,” Munster said. “Usually when companies ramp up production, their margins come under pressure. He threaded the needle, and that is a difficult thing to do”, added the managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management. Kirkhorn owned 197,540 shares as of last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, a stake valued at about $49 million. He recently sold about a million dollars worth of stock.
“Being part of this company is a special experience and I am very proud of the work we have done together,” Kirkhorn wrote Monday on the Linkedin social network. “I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which has inspired so many people,” he assured.
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