By Akash Sriram

(Reuters) -Tesla finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn has stepped down, shocking analysts who thought of the 13-year veteran as a attainable successor to CEO Elon Musk.

Shares of the world’s most dear automotive firm had been down 1% in buying and selling after the bell.

The corporate didn’t give a purpose for his exit. Accounting head Vaibhav Taneja, who joined Tesla (NASDAQ:) via the $2.6 billion deal for Solarcity in 2016, will exchange Kirkhorn.

His departure has raised issues a few succession plan on the world’s most dear automaker led by Musk, who additionally holds key roles at SpaceX and X social media, previously often called Twitter.

Gentle-spoken Kirkhorn was seen as an efficient steadiness to the extra unstable Musk and was probably the most seen executives who usually spoke on calls with analysts and made displays on technique and merchandise.

“He was capable of be an efficient liaison communicator between Elon and different executives …that may be a skillset that’s onerous to return by and really worthwhile however onerous to quantify,” mentioned Thomas Martin, senior portfolio supervisor at Globalt Investments, a Tesla investor.

Throughout Kirkhorn’s tenure, Tesla posted its first quarterly revenue after it launched the mass-market Mannequin 3 compact sedan and hit a market valuation of greater than $1 trillion.

“Being part of this firm is a particular expertise and I am extraordinarily happy with the work we have performed collectively since I joined over 13 years in the past,” Kirkhorn mentioned in a LinkedIn publish.

Kirkhorn didn’t reply to queries when contacted on LinkedIn.

“That he’ll be round till the top of the yr is proof that that is only for private causes and the non-public purpose is probably going that working with Elon Musk is basically onerous and he is performed it for 13 years,” mentioned Gene Munster, managing associate at Deepwater Asset Administration.

Kirkhorn’s departure marks the largest shake-up on the firm since long-time government Jerome Guillen, who oversaw its semi electrical vehicles, left in 2021.

“I want to thank Zach Kirkhorn for his many contributions to Tesla over the course of 13 usually troublesome years. A lot appreciated and greatest needs for the subsequent stage of his profession,” Musk mentioned in a publish on X.

Taneja, 45, takes on the position, or the so-called “Grasp of Coin” place, along with his job as chief accounting officer.

He spent almost 17 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of many huge 4 accounting companies, earlier than becoming a member of SolarCity in 2016, when Tesla purchased the photo voltaic panels maker for $2.6 billion.

The Austin, Texas-based automaker this yr lower the costs of its automobiles in a transfer that prioritized gross sales development and market share and squeezed its industry-leading margins.

Tesla has additionally hinted at extra value cuts in what Musk referred to as “turbulent instances” as rising borrowing prices take a toll on the gross sales of electric-vehicle makers.