Elon Musk, chief government officer of Tesla Inc., and Omead Afshar, left, depart an occasion on the web site of the corporate’s manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has fired Omead Afshar, the automaker’s vice chairman of producing and operations, CNBC has confirmed, following declines in automobile gross sales in key markets this yr.
Afshar, who reported on to Musk, led a workforce of greater than a half dozen high-level workers, in line with inside organizational charts seen by CNBC.
Forbes first reported that Afshar was dismissed by Musk. Bloomberg reported earlier that Afshar had left the corporate.
Executives on Afshar’s workforce included Troy Jones, who’s Tesla’s vice chairman of North American gross sales, and Joe Ward, vice chairman of the Europe, Center East and Africa area. Additionally on his workforce was Karen Steakley, who now leads enterprise growth and coverage for Tesla, and beforehand held the function of deputy director for legislative affairs for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
CNBC reached out to Afshar and to different Tesla executives in addition to board members. They did not instantly reply to requests for remark.
Afshar was the topic of an inside investigation at Tesla in 2022, Bloomberg reported, which had centered on his orders of hard-to-get building supplies, together with a particular form of glass for a secretive mission for Musk.
Following that probe, Afshar additionally labored for SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and protection contractor, however had returned to Tesla and was promoted to the vice chairman function.
Afshar’s profile on X nonetheless says he is at Tesla and this week he praised Musk following the launch of the corporate’s pilot Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, writing, “Thanks, Elon, for pushing us all!”
Afshar’s termination follows the resignation of Milan Kovac, beforehand head of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robotics program, earlier this month. Kovac mentioned in a publish on X that he was leaving in an effort to spend extra time together with his household. Musk has thanked Kovac publicly for his work.
Tesla’s inventory value is down 19% this yr, badly underperforming the Nasdaq and most of its megacap tech friends.
Tesla new automobile gross sales in Europe fell for a fifth straight month in Might, in line with information revealed on Wednesday from the European Vehicle Producers Affiliation, or ACEA, as prospects pivot to European manufacturers and cheaper Chinese language electrical automobiles.
The corporate has confronted model and reputational injury prior to now yr, largely because of Musk‘s incendiary rhetoric and political exercise. Musk spent practically $300 million to assist elect U.S. President Donald Trump to a second time period after which led an initiative to slash federal companies and their sources.
Musk additionally formally endorsed and promoted Germany’s far-right, anti-immigrant AfD celebration.
