Tesla Appoints Vaibhav Taneja as New CFO After Zachary Kirkhorn’s Exit

Indian-origin leader Vaibhav Taneja is now Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Zachary Kirkhorn, who recently left. Tesla, the US electric car company, announced this in a filing on Monday.

Taneja, 45, is now both CFO and Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) at Tesla. Kirkhorn, known as Tesla’s “Master of Coin,” was the finance head for four years.

Kirkhorn’s 13-year journey with Tesla ended. He’ll stay until year-end for a smooth handover.

In a LinkedIn post, Kirkhorn expressed pride in his time at Tesla, thanking dedicated employees and Elon Musk, Tesla’s leader.

Taneja has been with Tesla since March 2019 as CAO. Earlier, he was Corporate Controller from May 2018. He was also Assistant Corporate Controller from February 2017 to May 2018. Before Tesla, he worked in finance and accounting at SolarCity Corporation, a solar panel company Tesla bought in 2016.

Before Tesla, Taneja worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India and the US from July 1999 to March 2016.

As Taneja steps into his new role, Tesla’s stakeholders and the industry will watch how his financial leadership shapes the company’s future.