Stock of Tesla Drops After Zach Kirkhorn Resigns as Cfo

Tesla Inc. saw a nearly 1% decline in its shares on Monday, reversing an initial gain, following the announcement of Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn's departure after serving in the role for four years and contributing 13 years to the company.

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Tesla's stock (TSLA, -0.92%) had initially risen by about 0.6% before the disclosure of the CFO's departure became public.

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The executive team at Tesla has maintained a relative level of stability over the past few years, marking a departure from a period of numerous exits in 2018 and 2019. Notable departures during that period included Chief Technology Officer J.B. Straubel in July 2019 and Deepak Ahuja, Tesla's previous CFO, in January of the same year.

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Tesla reported that Vaibhav Taneja, the Chief Accounting Officer, would succeed Kirkhorn as CFO. Taneja had been serving as Tesla's CAO since March 2019 and had previously been the corporate controller from May 2018. The company stated that Kirkhorn will continue to support Tesla's transition by remaining with the company until the end of the year.

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Commenting on the appointment of Taneja, Ben Kallo from Baird mentioned in a note that he will be "an experienced successor."

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Taneja's background includes holding positions as Chief Accounting Officer, corporate controller, and assistant corporate controller. Prior to joining Tesla, he was an executive at SolarCity Corp., which was acquired by Tesla in 2016. Taneja also boasts over 16 years of experience with PwC, which is Tesla's auditor.

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In March 2021, Chief Executive Elon Musk had humorously bestowed upon himself and Kirkhorn the titles of "Chief Technoking" and "Master of Coin" at Tesla.

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In acknowledgment of Kirkhorn's contributions, Musk tweeted his gratitude for Kirkhorn's "many contributions" to Tesla.

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Jerome Guillen, formerly the president of Tesla Heavy Trucking, departed in June 2021 and was one of the last of Musk's original team members at the company. At the time of Guillen's departure, Tesla issued a brief announcement.

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Kirkhorn joined Tesla in 2010 as an analyst and assumed the position of CFO in January 2019, succeeding Ahuja, who concluded his second tenure as Tesla CFO. Ahuja had initially retired in 2015 after steering Tesla through the challenges of the 2008 financial crisis. However, he returned to Tesla in 2017, during the production ramp-up for the Model 3 sedan.

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Kirkhorn's steady demeanor during Tesla's post-earnings calls often contrasted with Musk's more dynamic personality, with Kirkhorn occasionally contributing to maintaining a sense of equilibrium.

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Reflecting on his time at Tesla in a LinkedIn post, Kirkhorn mentioned, "As I transition my responsibilities, I would like to express my gratitude to the talented and dedicated employees at Tesla, who have accomplished feats that many deemed impossible. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Elon for his visionary leadership and inspiring optimism that has motivated countless individuals."

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Over the past three months, Tesla's stock has appreciated by 44.9%, whereas the S&P 500 (SPX, -1.07%) has gained 8.8%.

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