On August 7, local time, Tesla filed a document with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which mentioned that Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn had resigned from the company on August 4.。The current Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja, will succeed Kirkhorn as Chief Financial Officer, building on his current position.。

Kirkhorn has been with Tesla for 13 years and has served as the company's chief financial officer for the past four years.。In the Tesla filing, it was mentioned that during Kirkhorn's tenure, Tesla achieved tremendous expansion and growth。Tesla thanks Mr. Kirkhorn for his significant contribution。Mr. Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla until the end of the year to support a seamless transition.。

Confirming the news on LinkedIn, Kirkhorn wrote: "Being part of this company has been a special experience and I am very proud of the work I have done since joining this company 13 years ago.。As I shift responsibilities to support this transition, I want to thank Tesla's talented, passionate, hard-working employees who accomplished what many thought was impossible.。I would also like to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which has inspired so many。"

       

"Master of Money"

       

In 2021, Tesla submitted a document to the SEC, which mentioned that Musk and Kirkhorn's titles were changed to King of Technology (Technoking of Tesla) and Master of Coin (Master of Coin), respectively, and said that the two remained the company's CEO and CFO.。

But in the filing, Tesla did not explain why the pair were given such new titles.。Speculation may be related to Tesla's billions of dollars worth of bitcoin。

The "money guru" joined Tesla in 2010 as a senior financial analyst, achieving five promotions over 13 years, the last of which came in early 2019, when the company named him chief financial officer, at the age of 34.。

Before Kirkhorn took over, Tesla was in the red for a long time, and sometimes burned more than $1 billion in cash in a quarter.。During Kirkhorn's tenure, the company has been consistently profitable and has repaid about $10 billion in debt over the past three years, helping Tesla achieve an investment-grade rating.。

During his tenure, Tesla also joined the S & P 500 in December 2020.。In the past four years, Tesla's stock price has risen by 1,480%, and Tesla's market value will exceed $1 trillion at one point in 2021.。

"He worked for Elon for 13 years, just like he worked for other people for 50 years," said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management.。"The fact that he held on until the end of the year bodes well for the transition.。"

He thinks Kirkhorn is doing a good job of expanding profits。"Usually when companies scale up production, their margins come under pressure.。(What he does) is like putting thread into a needle, which is a hard thing to do。"

Kirkhorn Praised by Investors for Cost Control。During Tesla's quarterly earnings call, Kirkhorn will speak in detail, and he speaks with a calm, sane look, in contrast to Musk's rhetorical style。

Such excellent talent, Tesla did not treat him lightly。During his four years as CFO, his salary was about $1.2 million.。As of last month, Kirkhorn held 197,540 shares of Tesla stock, with a holding value of about $49 million.。He also recently sold about $1 million worth of stock.。If you add the option, Kirkhorn will take a value of 1 from Tesla..$6.8 billion in Tesla stock and options left。

       

New CFO is favored by "Sister Wood"

        

"Sister Wood" Cathie Wood said in an interview that she would miss Kirkhorn's presence。

"Sister Wood" is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ark Investment Management。Tesla is the largest contributor to the management company's Ark Innovation ETF。According to publicly available data, it represents almost 11% of the fund's net asset value。

Wood said: "We will miss Kirkhorn, but his successor has been at Tesla since 2018 and he has trained his successor well.。"

Taneja, 45, who succeeded Kirkhorn, is Tesla's fifth chief financial officer in the past 10 years.。

Taneja has served as Tesla's Chief Accounting Officer since March 2019, prior to which he served as the Company's Chief Financial Officer in May 2018 and as Assistant Chief Financial Officer from February 2017 to May 2018.。Prior to Tesla, Taneja worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in India and the United States.。He also served as vice president at SolarCity, the largest solar power company in the United States, which Tesla bought for $2.6 billion in 2016.。

Previously, Kirkhorn was an important spokesperson for the company among shareholders and has been considered the strongest contender to succeed Musk as Tesla's CEO.。Now his departure has once again sparked uncertainty in Tesla's leadership。