Zach Kirkhorn is leaving Tesla after serving as Chief Financial Officer since 2019 and being with the company for over 13 years. Vaibhav Taneja, the brand’s Chief Accounting Officer will take over on an interim basis. The automaker is on the brink of a pivotal product shift.
Kirkhorn and Tesla released statements in different venues confirming the split. For his part, Kirkhorn dropped the news on LinkedIn saying “This morning Tesla announced that I’ve stepped down from my role as Chief Financial Officer, succeeded by our Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja.
Being a part of this company is a special experience and I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done together since I joined over 13 years ago. As I shift my responsibilities to support this transition, I want to thank the talented, passionate, and hard-working employees at Tesla, who have accomplished things many thought not possible. I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which has inspired so many people.”
Kirkhorn was referring to Tesla’s 8-K filing where it said that “Mr. Kirkhorn stepped down as of August 4, after a thirteen-year tenure with the company, the last four years of which he has served as Master of Coin and Chief Financial Officer. During his tenure, Tesla has seen tremendous expansion and growth. Tesla thanks Mr. Kirkhorn for his significant contributions. Mr. Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition.”
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As Teslarati pointed out, Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to comment on the situation saying “I would like to thank Zach Kirkhorn for his many contributions to Tesla over the course of 13 often difficult years. Much appreciated and best wishes for the next stage of his career.” Shortly thereafter he followed up with a little more information.
“13 years is a long tour of duty. Zach will spend time with friends & family, then do something else.” That sounds as though Kirkhorn has another job lined up somewhere else but only time will tell.
All of this comes at a time when Tesla’s future relies heavily on the near future. The Cybertruck is supposedly still going to begin production before the end of 2023 and the updated Model 3, one of the brand’s best-sellers, is set for a big refresh. Both projects serve as just two pieces of a bigger pie that includes future updates to the Model S, Model X, and at some point, production of the new Roadster.
Tesla isn’t left wanting for rivals either. Every big automaker around the world would be stoked to knock it down a few pegs. In fact, other car companies are spending tens of billions in an effort to gain more EV market share worldwide. How Kirkhorn’s departure will affect the company, in the long run, is yet to be seen.
