- Multiple Tesla executives announced they are leaving or have left over the past week.
- Several of the executives had worked at Tesla for nearly a decade or more.
- Tesla is set to unveil its Robotaxi on Thursday.
Tesla has been shedding executives ahead of its Robotaxi event, with four of Elon Musk's direct reports saying they'd left the company over the past week.
Musk is somewhat unique among CEOs, with over 30 direct reports. And while three former managers tell Business Insider executive departures are a consequence of Elon's management style, seven current employees say current staff remains focused on Robotaxi day, set for October 10.
Tesla employees were informed on October 3 during an all-hands meeting that Chief Information Officer Nagesh Saldi was leaving the carmaker after nearly 12 years at the company, three workers told Business Insider. The workers asked not to be identified to avoid professional reprisal. Bloomberg was the first to report on Saldi's departure.
Tesla's director of public policy and business development Jos Dings announced on LinkedIn that he was leaving the company on October 1. On October 6, global vehicle automation and safety policy lead Marc Van Impe also announced on LinkedIn he had left Tesla.
Both Dings and Van Impe had reported to Tesla's VP of public policy and business development, Rohan Patel, before he left the carmaker in April. They began reporting directly to Musk after Patel's departure.
On LinkedIn, Dings said he was taking a career break, and Van Impe said he was moving into an advisor role at SpaceX.
Van Impe had spent the past four years deploying Tesla's driver-assist technology in global markets, according to his LinkedIn.
On October 4, Tesla's former Model S and Model X program manager, David Zhang, also told his followers on LinkedIn that he had left the company. Zhang's updated LinkedIn profile shows him parting ways with Tesla in July, but he hadn't commented publicly on his departure until Friday.
The carmaker's former head of vehicle programs, Daniel Ho, formally announced on LinkedIn on September 29 that he had left Tesla and joined Waymo as its new programs director.
Musk had previously announced Ho's departure in April. He was one of several executives who parted ways with Tesla after Musk said the company would reduce its headcount by more than 10%. Tesla's SVP of powertrain and electrical engineering Drew Baglino and Rebecca Tinucci, the senior director of Supercharging, left in April.
In total, Musk has lost eight of his direct reports at Tesla over the past year. The Tesla CEO oversees more than 30 direct reports.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Some former workers attribute Tesla's high turnover rate to Musk's leadership style.
"Every few years Elon comes in and slashes head count or there's a reorg, and it's like you have to build everything from scratch again," a former manager told BI. "People get burned out from keeping up that kind of pace."
Another former top-level employee said a growing number of workers within the company no longer believe in Musk's vision, particularly after the billionaire turned his attention to his Twitter acquisition in 2022.
"A lot of people at Tesla are just tired of all the noise," they said.
One former manager who chose to resign earlier this year said Tesla's April layoffs made many high-level employees eye the exits. "We just kept fighting to keep our teams together," they said, but "that shit takes its toll."
Internally, there has been little chatter among workers regarding the departures, seven employees told BI.
"I think a lot of the company's focus right now is on the Robotaxi event," one Tesla employee said.
Tesla is set to provide its first demo of its self-driving technology during Robotaxi Day on Thursday. Over the years, Musk has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Tesla's autonomous driving technology to the company's future.
The event is set to take place at Warner Bros studio in Burbank, California, and will be live-streamed on X.
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