Tesla’s ‘Master of Coin’ stepping down after 13-year stint at EV company

Tesla’s “Master of Coin” has stepped down after working at the Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle company for over 13 years.

Zachary Kirkhorn became Tesla’s chief financial officer four and a half years ago in 2019, and was reportedly a potential successor to Mr Musk in running the EV company.

The Tesla boss had dubbed him “Master of Coin” in 2021 – a reference to a title in hit TV series Game of Thrones.

“During his tenure, Tesla has seen tremendous expansion and growth. Tesla thanks Mr Kirkhorn for his significant contributions,” Tesla noted in an SEC filing.

Tesla’s current chief accounting officer, Vaibhav Taneja, will succeed Mr Kirkhorn, the electric automaker said on Monday.

“This morning Tesla announced that I’ve stepped down from my role as Chief Financial Officer, succeeded by our Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja,” Mr Kirkhorn posted on his LinkedIn profile.

“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,” he said.

Mr Taneja previously worked as Tesla’s chief accounting officer up to March 2019, prior to which he worked as corporate controller from May 2018.

It remains unclear what led to Mr Kirkhorn’s surprise decision to quit his role as Tesla’s CFO.

Tesla recently announced its second quarter earnings, reporting a 20 per cent increase from the same quarter last year, better than what analysts estimated.

Mr Kirkhorn’s departure also comes ahead of Tesla’s much-anticipated launch of its Cybertruck later this year.

“As I shift my responsibilities to support this transition, I want to thank the talented, passionate, and hard-working employees at Tesla, who have accomplished things many thought not possible,” he said.

Tesla shares dropped by about 3.5 per cent on Monday following the news, and continued to fall as the market opened.

Mr Kirkhorn is expected to stay on till the end of 2023 to assist his successor with the transition.

“I would like to thank Zach Kirkhorn for his many contributions to Tesla over the course of 13 often difficult years,” Mr Musk tweeted.