(Bloomberg) — Omead Afshar, a powerful executive at Tesla Inc. and one of Elon Musk’s closest confidants, has left the company, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest high-level departure during a volatile period for the electric vehicle maker.
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News of the exit has circulated internally among some employees in recent days, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal information. Afshar’s name no longer appeared to show up in an internal directory, two of the people said. The reason for the change and his future plans weren’t immediately clear.
Afshar, Musk and Tesla didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Afshar, who has worked in the office of the CEO, was promoted last year to oversee sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe. Those markets have become particular pain points for the automaker recently, with sales plunging due to rising competition and a consumer backlash to Musk’s role in US President Donald Trump’s administration.
This marks the latest departure of a prominent Tesla leader in recent weeks. Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for the company’s Optimus humanoid robot program, stepped down citing a desire to spend more time with his family.
Jenna Ferrua, who is listed on LinkedIn as a human resources director for North America, has also left Tesla and no longer appears to be in the company directory, according to people familiar.
The personnel changes punctuate a tumultuous year for Tesla, whose shares have tumbled about 19% while demand has waned for its EV models and Musk has spent time in Washington. The chief executive officer is trying to reorient the company around artificial intelligence, robots and driverless cars, recently rolling out a small number of Tesla’s long-promised robotaxis in Austin.
Tesla is expected to report global delivery results for the second quarter next week.
Its shares briefly turned negative after Bloomberg reported Afshar’s departure, and were little changed as of 11:54 a.m. in New York.
Tesla Tenure
Afshar joined Tesla in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, as the carmaker was beginning to ramp up production of the Model 3 sedan.
“I was with Elon nearly every single day during Model 3 hell,” he says in a post on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “This included Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, his birthday and nearly missing his brother’s wedding.”
