{"id":45830,"date":"2023-08-08T07:39:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T11:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/opinion-tesla-loses-an-adult-in-the-room-with-sudden-departure-of-its-cfo\/"},"modified":"2023-08-08T07:39:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T11:39:03","slug":"opinion-tesla-loses-an-adult-in-the-room-with-sudden-departure-of-its-cfo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=45830","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Tesla loses an adult in the room with sudden departure of its CFO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The abrupt departure of Tesla Inc.\u2019s chief financial officer, Zachary Kirkhorn, is a loss for the EV maker, as he was one of the more reasonable adults in the room on the company\u2019s conference calls with Chief Executive Elon Musk and investors.<\/p>\n

In a brief 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla
\n TSLA,
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\n announced Kirkhorn\u2019s departure from the electric vehicle maker, as of Friday, Aug. 4. The stock closed Monday down 1%, though it fell nearly 3% at one point in intraday trading. The 13-year Tesla veteran was replaced by Vaibhav Taneja, previously Tesla\u2019s chief accounting officer. Kirkhorn was CFO for four years.<\/p>\n

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Tesla said in the filing that Kirkhorn will \u201ccontinue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition,\u201d and in a post on X<\/a>, Musk thanked him \u201cfor his many contributions to Tesla over the course of 13 often difficult years.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the company\u2019s last quarterly call, it was Kirkhorn who reminded investors that Tesla does not comment on its future road map, in response to a question about any more upcoming Tesla energy products, possibly trying to head off any unforeseen new-product announcements by Musk.<\/p>\n

In addition, one emailed investor question asked when automotive gross margins would stabilize, after declining in the second quarter as Tesla lowered prices. Musk\u2019s response was, \u201cOh, man. Where\u2019s that crystal ball again?\u201d Then he later went on to predict autonomy, or full self-driving, would make all the current numbers look silly, adding that \u201cTesla is an epic long-term investment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kirkhorn then chimed in, saying he agreed with Musk, but then added, \u201cI think the only thing in the short term that matters is what I said in my opening remarks, which is: Are we generating enough money to continue to invest? And the portfolio of products and technologies that the technical teams are investing in right now, this is intense. It\u2019s intense in terms of investment.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the first quarter, after executives were asked for more color on updated margin guidance, Musk said it all depended on macroeconomic conditions, but that barring any major geopolitical wild card, \u201cI\u00a0think\u00a0I\u00a0would\u00a0be very\u00a0optimistic\u00a0about\u00a0middle of\u00a0next\u00a0year,\u00a0end\u00a0of\u00a0next\u00a0year.\u201d Kirkhorn followed up quickly, adding, \u201cWhat\u2019s really important\u00a0for\u00a0us\u00a0this\u00a0year\u00a0in\u00a0addition\u00a0to\u00a0just\u00a0managing\u00a0the\u00a0day-to-day of the business, is also investing in, as Elon mentioned, what 2024 and 2025 will look like.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u00a0I\u00a0just\u00a0want\u00a0to caution folks about reading too much into what happens over the near term here, because we\u2019re very focused as a company on making sure that, when we exit this macroeconomic situation, this company is positioned in the best possible way,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

RW Baird & Co. analyst Ben Kallo said in a note to clients Monday that he was maintaining his outperform rating on Tesla, indicating he was not concerned about the transition.<\/p>\n

Stephen Diamond, an associate professor of law at Santa Clara University pointed out that four years \u201cis a long time to survive under Musk,\u201d adding that, like lawyers, \u201cCFOs are pretty fungible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gary Black, managing partner at the Future Fund and a Tesla investor, speculated that Kirkhorn has made enough money to retire, and approached Musk with the idea that it was time for him to move on, and Musk asked him to reconsider. \u201cZach reconsidered and told him he still wanted to leave, Elon took it badly,\u201d he said on X, the service now owned by Musk and formerly known as Twitter. <\/p>\n

Whatever the reasons are behind Kirkhorn\u2019s abrupt departure, the question investors may be asking now is whether or not Taneja will be able to slightly rein in Musk, as Kirkhorn has been somewhat able to do \u2014 or will Musk start in again making ever wilder statements and forecasts?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n