There are some big names leaving Tesla, I have to wonder if Baglino and Patel were asked to leave or they see the writing on the wall and decided to get out before earnings were announced.
Andrew Baglino, Tesla’s senior vice president for energy engineering and powertrain, has been with the company since March 2006. He was one of the original electrical engineers working on the
Roadster, Tesla’s first-ever electric vehicle, and has been a frequent face at investor events. Baglino is also one of Tesla’s
four key leaders.
“I made the difficult decision to move on from Tesla after 18 years yesterday,” Baglino said in a statement Monday. “I am so thankful to have worked with and learned from the countless incredibly talented people at Tesla over the years.”
Rohan Patel, Tesla’s vice president of public policy and business development,
has also left the company, according to a Monday post on social media. Patel has become a familiar face to Tesla’s ultra-online community, often engaging with investors and customers on Musk’s X as a
one-man public relations department.
“The past 8 years at Tesla have been filled with every emotion—but the feeling I have today is utmost gratitude,” Patel wrote Monday, thanking Tesla’s customers, Musk, and his team. “To the broader Tesla team—the never-say-die attitude and scrappiness is what makes the place special,” he added.
Zachary Kirkhorn, Tesla’s “master of coin” and chief financial officer,
resigned from the company last August. He had been seen as a likely successor and, like Baglino, was a familiar face at investor events. He was replaced by Vaibhav Taneja, who is now Tesla’s chief accounting officer and CFO.