Indian-origin Vaibhav Taneja has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Tesla, the electric car manufacturer led by Elon Musk. This significant development took place on Monday, as Taneja assumed the role of CFO following the departure of Zachary Kirkhorn, who had held the position for 13 years.
Zachary Kirkhorn conveyed this significant change through his LinkedIn account, and it’s worth noting that industry experts are considering him a potential successor to CEO Elon Musk.
Who is Vaibhav Taneja?
A 45-year-old commerce graduate from Delhi University, Taneja boasts over 17 years of experience collaborating with numerous multinational corporations.
Taneja’s new role as Tesla CFO has been added to his existing responsibilities as Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of the US-based automaker. Since March 2019, he has been fulfilling the role of Tesla’s CAO. Before this, Taneja held the position of Corporate Controller at Tesla starting from May 2018.
His journey at Tesla began in February 2017 when he took on the role of Assistant Corporate Controller. Prior to joining Tesla, Taneja occupied various finance and accounting positions at SolarCity Corporation, a US-based solar panel developer that Tesla acquired in 2016. Importantly, he played a key role in successfully integrating the two companies.
Before his tenure at SolarCity Corporation, Taneja’s career saw him working at PricewaterhouseCoopers in both India and the US between July 1999 and March 2016.
Earlier today, Kirkhorn shared on his LinkedIn account, “This morning Tesla announced that I’ve stepped down from my role as Chief Financial Officer, succeeded by our Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja. 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.”
Kirkhorn expressed his gratitude towards the dedicated and hardworking employees at Tesla, who have achieved remarkable feats that were once deemed impossible. He also extended his appreciation to Elon Musk for his leadership and inspirational outlook that has motivated countless individuals.
