Tesla CFO Zack Kirkhorn steps down after 13-year tenure
What's the story
Tesla's CFO Zach Kirkhorn has unexpectedly resigned, leaving the electric vehicle manufacturer after 13 years. Kirkhorn's decade-long tenure at Tesla included overseeing its first profitable year in 2019. He will stay at the company till the end of the year to help with the transition. He was replaced by Vaibhav Taneja, the company's chief accounting officer since 2019. This will be his additional responsibility.
Details
Kirkhorn presided over Tesla's financial turnaround
Kirkhorn joined Tesla in 2010 and became CFO in 2019, helping the company achieve milestones like its inclusion in the S&P 500 index. He played a crucial role in securing funding for Tesla's expansion and new product development, such as the Cybertruck and Semi. During his tenure, the company's free cash flow increased from almost break-even to $7 billion last year.
Work
He often translated Musk's aspirations to Wall Street
Kirkhorn's presence at Tesla made it easy for Wall Street to understand the company's aspirations. He often had the job of translating Elon Musk's off-the-cuff financial remarks. Tesla thanked him for his "significant contributions" to the company. Kirkhorn's replacement, Taneja, joined Tesla when the EV manufacturer acquired SolarCity in 2017. He was at PricewaterhouseCoopers before that.
Twitter Post
Elon Musk thanked Kirkhorn for his contributions
I would like to thank Zach Kirkhorn for his many contributions to Tesla over the course of 13 often difficult years.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2023
Much appreciated and best wishes for the next stage of his career.