Tesla chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn stepped down after four years in the role, the world’s most valuable automaker said, naming as his successor accounting head Vaibhav Taneja.
The Elon Musk-led firm did not specify a reason for the departure of Mr. Kirkhorn, who joined Tesla in 2010 as a senior analyst in finance.
“This morning Tesla announced that I’ve stepped down from my role as chief financial officer,” Mr. Kirkhorn wrote on LinkedIn. “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.”
During Mr. Kirkhorn’s tenure as Tesla’s “Master of Coin,” the company posted its first quarterly profit after launching the mass-market Model 3 compact sedan, hitting a market valuation of more than $1 trillion.
Mr. Kirkhorn will stay on with Tesla until the end of the year to assist with the transition, as Mr. Taneja assumes both roles concurrently.
“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,” Mr. Kirkhorn said.
“I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which has inspired so many people,” he added.
News of the CFO’s departure sent Tesla shares down 3 percent in repetition of the unexpected departure of the company’s previous CFO, Deepak Ahuja, four years ago.
Mr. Ahuja’s exit and Mr. Kirkhorn’s appointment in 2019 were disclosed by Mr. Musk in a surprise move toward the end of a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s quarterly results. The sudden announcement caused shares to dip 4.5 percent.
“That he’s going to be around until the end of the year is evidence that this is just for personal reasons, and the personal reason is likely that working with Elon Musk is really hard and he’s done it for 13 years,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management.
Mr. Kirkhorn’s successor, the 45-year-old Mr. Taneja, has been with the automaker since 2017, shortly after Tesla’s $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity in 2016. Before that, Mr. Taneja worked at Tesla’s auditor, PwC, for about 17 years.
The Austin, Texas-based automaker this year cut prices of its cars in a move that prioritized sales growth and market share and squeezed its industry-leading margins.
Tesla has also hinted at more price cuts in what Musk called “turbulent times” as rising borrowing costs take a toll on the sales of electric-vehicle makers.
Before the announcement, Mr. Kirkhorn was being considered as a possible successor to Mr. Musk earlier this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Musk currently leads Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, the Boring Company, and is chief technology officer at social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
