Zach Kirkhorn, the chief financial officer of Tesla, resigned from his role with effect from August 4, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday. Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s chief financial officer, has been named the new CFO and will serve in both positions simultaneously.
In response to the news, Tesla stock was trading roughly 1% lower.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kirkhorn will continue working for Tesla through the end of the year to help with the transition. Since 2010, Kirkhorn has worked at Tesla as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO).
As I change my duties to facilitate this transition, Kirkhorn stated on LinkedIn, “I am grateful for the talented, passionate, & dedicated staff at Tesla, who achieved things many thought were not possible.”
With Kirkhorn’s departure, Tesla has replaced its CFO twice in less than four years. Deepak Ahuja, Tesla’s former CFO, left the company in 2019, and the stock fell as much as 4.5%.
Tesla has employed Vaibhav Taneja, a former chief accounting officer who replaced Kirkhorn, since 2017. Prior to joining Tesla, he was employed by SolarCity, which the company acquired for $2.6 billion. Taneja worked at PwC for about 17 years prior to that. Tesla’s auditor is PwC.