Indian-origin Vaibhav Taneja named Tesla CFO as finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn steps down

Vaibhan Taneja has been named Tesla's new Chief Financial Officer as the previous finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn announced his decision to step down

New York: Indian-origin Vaibhan Taneja has been named Tesla‘s new Chief Financial Officer as the previous finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn announced his decision to step down, the automaker said in a company filing on Monday.

Taneja, 45, was appointed Tesla CFO in addition to his current role as Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of the US-based electric car major on Friday after Kirhorn, Tesla’s Master of Coin and finance chief for the last four years, stepped down from the post.

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Kirkhorn’s 13-year tenure with the Elon Musk-led American EV giant was described as one of “tremendous expansion and growth” in the company filing.

“Tesla thanks Mr Kirkhorn for his significant contributions. Mr Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition,” it said.

“This morning Tesla announced that I’ve stepped down from my role as Chief Financial Officer, succeeded by our Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja,” Kirkhorn said in a LinkedIn post.

“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. 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 (were) not possible. I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which has inspired so many people,” he said.

Taneja has served as Tesla’s CAO since March 2019 and as the Corporate Controller since May 2018. He served as the Assistant Corporate Controller between February 2017 and May 2018, and from March 2016, served in various finance and accounting roles at SolarCity Corporation, a US-based solar panel developer acquired by Tesla in 2016.

Before that, Taneja was employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers in both India and the US between July 1999 and March 2016, the company filing said.