A top Elon Musk lieutenant has left Tesla
Omead Afshar's departure takes place amid much broader turmoil for Tesla, which has struggled with lagging sales and an image crisis
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Omead Afshar, a longtime Tesla executive and staffer who worked with co-founder and CEO Elon Musk, has left the company, according to multiple reports.
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Afshar last year became Tesla’s leader for sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the news of Afshar’s departure, citing people familiar with the matter. Afshar joined the company in 2017 and had worked in Tesla’s Office of the CEO, per his LinkedIn profile.
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Both Tesla and Afshar didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from Quartz. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Afshar left the company.
Afshar’s departure takes place amid much broader turmoil for the EV maker, which has struggled with lagging sales and an image crisis. In the quarter that ended in March, total revenue fell roughly 9% from the comparable quarter a year earlier in part because cash deliveries of the company’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles dropped by roughly 51,000.
At the same time, Musk’s involvement with President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — the agency Musk led up until recently that has focused on cutting government spending — has left some Tesla owners with a bad taste in their mouths.
As Tesla struggled, Musk said roughly a month ago in a post on X, the social media platform he owns, that he was stepping back from DOGE. Shortly after his departure, he and Trump had a public falling out in which the president threatened to end government contracts with Musk’s businesses. Musk later apologized to Trump.
Tesla shares over the last month are down about 10% as of midday Thursday. They’ve fallen about 28% over the last six months.
Afshar was praising Tesla on social media as recently as earlier this week promoting the company’s robotaxis.
“Thank you, Elon, for pushing us all!” Afshar’s account on X said on Monday.
In addition to Afshar, Bloomberg and the Journal both also reported that Jenna Ferrua, who was North America human resources director at Tesla, has also left the firm. Ferrua also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.