Kirkhorn will continue to serve the EV maker through the end of the year to support a seamless transition, Tesla said.
American automobile company Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn has stepped down from his post following a 13-year stint at the electric vehicle maker. Tesla appointed Chief Accounting Officer Vaibhav Taneja to succeed Kirkhorn on August 4, the automaker said in an SEC filing.
Tesla added that Kirkhorn, who according to his LinkedIn profile joined Tesla in March 2010 as Senior Analyst (Finance), will continue to serve the EV maker through the end of the year to support a seamless transition. While Tesla did not mention the reason for the rejig, Kirkhorn’s departure has surprised many who considered him as a possible successor to Tesla’s chief Musk.
“I would like to thank Zach Kirkhorn for his many contributions to Tesla over the course of 13 often difficult years. Much appreciated and best wishes for the next stage of his career,” Tesla’s chief executive officer Elon Musk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
During his 13-year stint, Kirkhorn has served various roles including that of Senior Manager (Finance), Director (Finance), Senior Director (Finance), and Vice President (Finance) before being appointed as the company’s CFO in March 2019. “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,” Kirkhorn wrote on LinkedIn.
“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. I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which has inspired so many people,” he added.
On the other hand, the newly appointed CFO Vaibhav Taneja has been the company’s Chief Accounting Officer since March 2019. He has served as Corporate Controller, and Assistant Corporate Controller in his nearly seven-year stint at the company so far. Prior to joining Tesla in February 2017, Taneja served in various finance and accounting roles at SolarCity Corporation and was also employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers in both India and the U.S. between July 1999 and March 2016.
