Tesla’s Chief Monetary Officer Zachary Kirkhorn has stepped down unexpectedly from the place.
An organization veteran of 13 years, Kirkhorn stepped down from the function on August 4, however he’ll stay with Tesla by way of the top of the yr to allow a clean transition.
Tesla didn’t supply a cause for Zach Kirkhorn’s departure. “Throughout his tenure, Tesla has seen large growth and progress. Tesla thanks Mr. Kirkhorn for his important contributions,” the corporate stated in a regulatory submitting right this moment, in keeping with Reuters.
Tesla named its accounting head, Vaibhav Taneja, as its new CFO. Taneja, 45, has been Tesla’s Chief Accounting Officer since 2019. He held different roles on the firm earlier than that and beforehand labored at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India and the US.
Kirkhorn, 39, confirmed his departure in a LinkedIn submit right this moment.
“This morning Tesla introduced that I’ve stepped down from my function as Chief Monetary Officer, succeeded by our Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja. Being part of this firm is a particular expertise and I am extraordinarily happy with the work we have performed collectively since I joined over 13 years in the past. As I shift my obligations to assist this transition, I need to thank the gifted, passionate, and hard-working staff at Tesla, who’ve achieved issues many thought not doable. I additionally need to thank Elon for his management and optimism, which has impressed so many individuals.”
Kirkhorn’s surprising departure comes at a nasty time as Tesla is getting ready to carry the Cybertruck to market later this yr and is seeing growing competitors within the EV market. The corporate has been reducing costs because the begin of the yr to keep up its No. 1 spot within the EV trade.
Zach Kirkhorn was appointed Tesla CFO in early 2019 when he was 34. The corporate has been constantly worthwhile since then and even repayed about $10 billion of debt up to now three years. The debt repayments helped Tesla it safe investment-grade scores. Earlier than 2019, Tesla had a protracted historical past of losses, often burning greater than $1 billion of money per quarter.
Kirkhorn, a graduate of the College of Pennsylvania, joined Tesla in March 2010 as a senior analyst within the finance division. He labored below his predecessors as CFO, Deepak Ahuja and Jason Wheeler.
Tesla inventory fell virtually 3 p.c right this moment in early buying and selling after the announcement.