Tesla's CFO leaves after four years

Today Tesla has announced a pretty big change in its leadership. Long-time employee Zachary Kirkhorn, who has been with the company for thirteen years, has been replaced as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) by the company's former Chief Accounting Officer (CAO), Vaibhav Taneja.

Kirkhorn has been serving as CFO since 2019, when he replaced Deepak Ahuja, who held the role for around a decade before he left. Kirkhorn is no longer CFO as of August 4, but he will stay with the company until the end of this year in order to facilitate a smooth transition to his successor.

That said, Vaibhav Taneja is already the new CFO, as of August 4, while also remaining in the CAO role. By the looks of things, Kirkhorn's departure is happening under very amicable terms.

Here's what Tesla says about the situation:

As of August 4, 2023, Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) appointed Vaibhav Taneja as Chief Financial Officer in addition to his current role as Chief Accounting Officer, to succeed Zachary Kirkhorn. 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.

Vaibhav Taneja is 45 and he's been CAO since March 2019, Corporate Controller before that from 2018, and started his career at the auto maker as Assistant Corporate Controller back in 2017. From 2016 and until he joined Tesla he served "various finance and accounting roles at SolarCity Corporation" from March 2016, and prior to that he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India and the US starting in 1999.

Via