Tesla Appoints Indian-Origin Taneja As Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

(CTN News) – Earlier this week, Tesla announced the appointment of Indian-origin Vaibhav Taneja as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), which replaces Zachary Kirkhorn who stepped down after four years in the position.

As far as Kirkhorn’s departure from the Elon Musk-owned Tesla company is concerned, no explanation has been given for his departure.

According to Reuters, he will remain in the position until the end of the year in order to assist in the smooth transition for the company.

In the course of his tenure, Tesla reported its first quarterly profit after it launched its mass-market Model 3 compact sedan and hit a market valuation of over a trillion dollars in the process.

During a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s quarterly results, Musk revealed the appointment of Kirkhorn in 2019 and the departure of Ahuja’s predecessor at the end of the call. This occurred in a surprise move at the end of the call.

“I have had the privilege of being a member of this company for the past 13 years, and I’m extremely proud of the work that we’ve accomplished together since I joined over 13 years ago, “ Kirkhorn said in a LinkedIn post.

When Kirkhorn was contacted on LinkedIn, he did not immediately respond to queries. During the course of the day, Tesla’s shares fell by about 2%.

As far as I am concerned, the fact that he is going to be around until the end of the year suggests that this is just a personal decision, and that it is likely that working with Elon Musk is really hard, which he has been doing for 13 years,” said Gene Munster, a Deepwater Asset Management managing partner.

As a result of Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity in 2016,

Taneja, 45, joined the automaker as a Senior Vice President. It has been announced by the automaker that he will take on the role of “Master of Coin” in addition to his responsibilities as the company’s chief accounting officer.

With the aim of boosting sales and market share, the Austin, Texas-based automaker has cut the prices of its models this year, in a move that has squeezed its industry-leading margins and prioritized sales growth.

As the market for electric vehicles continues to battle higher borrowing costs, Tesla has also hinted at further price cuts as the firm’s sales take a hit due to what CEO Elon Musk called “turbulent times.”

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that outgoing CFO Kirkhorn had also been considered as a possible successor to Musk, amid growing investor concern about the lack of a clear succession plan at Elon Musk’s company.

Currently, Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, Neuralink, the Boring Company, and he is also the chief technology officer of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

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