Key Points:

• Tesla’s CFO Zach Kirkhorn has stepped down, effective Aug. 4.
• Tesla’s chief accounting officer Vaibhav Taneja has been appointed as the new CFO.
• Kirkhorn will assist in the transition until the end of the year.

Details:

Tesla’s chief financial officer and key Elon Musk lieutenant, Zach Kirkhorn, has resigned from his position, according to an announcement made by the automaker on Monday morning. The change is effective as of Aug. 4. Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s chief accounting officer, has been appointed as the new CFO.

Kirkhorn, who has been with Tesla since 2010, had served as CFO since 2019. He will continue to work with Tesla until the end of the year to aid in the transition process, as stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a LinkedIn post, Kirkhorn expressed his gratitude towards the dedicated and talented employees at Tesla, acknowledging their remarkable achievements.

This marks the second CFO replacement at Tesla in approximately four years. The departure of CFO Deepak Ahuja in 2019 had caused Tesla’s shares to drop by as much as 4.5%.

Taneja, who joined Tesla in 2017, previously worked for SolarCity, a company funded by Elon Musk.