Vaibhav Taneja | cfo of tesla | tesla new ceo | cfo full form
Elon Musk’s Tesla’s current Chief Accounting Officer (CAO), Vaibhav Taneja, will also serve as the organization’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The change comes after Zachary Kirkhorn, Tesla’s former finance director for the previous four years, resigned. Over time, Kirkhorn developed a reputation as a “master of coins,” according to Press Trust of India.
Vaibhav Taneja
Indian-born Vaibhav Taneja has been named as the Chief Financial Officer of American automaker Tesla. Currently, the Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja will take on the additional responsibilities of CFO. He will succeed Zachary Kirkhorn, who ends a 13-year tenure with Tesla.
In order to ensure a smooth transition, Kirkhorn is anticipated to stay in his role until the end of the year despite the Elon Musk-led company’s lack of explanation for the change. Kirkhorn wrote on LinkedIn, “Being a part of this company is a special experience and I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done together since I joined over 13 years ago”.
Who is Vaibhav Taneja?
Taneja is a commerce graduate from one of the prestigious universities Delhi University in India. Taneja started his journey with Tesla in 2017 after leaving SolarCity, a solar energy company Tesla had acquired. Initially, he served as SolarCity’s vice president. The position later changed to corporate controller.
According to reports, Taneja played a crucial part in the smooth merger of the accounting teams of the two companies. Prior to joining SolarCity, the 45-year-old worked for the “Big Four” firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to his LinkedIn page, he worked for PwC for a whopping 17 years till March 2016.
Delhi University to Tesla CFO
Following Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, Vaibhav Taneja (45), a University of Delhi commerce graduate, joined the firm. According to the company, he also took on the key job of “Master of Coin” within the organization in addition to his primary duty as chief accounting officer.
Vaibhav Taneja was also named as the director of Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited in January 2021. According to a Moneycontrol report, Vaibhav has more than 20 years of accounting experience. In the areas of technology, banking, retail, and telecommunications, he has worked with numerous multinational companies.
The appointment takes place at a time when Tesla wants to increase its sales and increase its market share. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the auto major even cut the pricing of its cars to achieve this goal, which hurt its already-competitive profits.
Why did Zachary Kirkhorn leave Tesla?
Tesla did not provide a detailed explanation for Kirkhorn’s departure.
According to a related filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Kirkhorn will still continue to work at Tesla through the end of this year to support the transition.
