Next Tesla CEO/COO

[Buckminster]

Yeah, let's take the 2nd best engineer at Tesla off the floor and put him in the office... /S

No, it's Zach, it's CEO, and it's Nov. (after Elon's 3-yr secnalty is over).

You continually demonstrate you ignorance and arrogance. Zach is a mechanical engineer who worked (as an engineer) for years at Tesla before returning for a Harvard MBA. Some of the largest automakers on earth are lead by CEO's who are P.Eng's and MBAs. The combination is hard to beat.

You opinion is wrong, as is your insistance on repeating it without new evidence.

That's such an awful and WRONG take.

So you are going to tell Leonard De Vinci which of the 7 areas he is allowed to participate in?

Babe Ruth would have been a Hall of Fame Pitcher if that's what he stuck to. I think you would have forced him to only pitch.

Such small minded thinking. Very gross. Just because you may not be a polymath doesn't mean they don't exist.

Just as one can find economy in engineering, one can find engineering in economy.

Apparently you disagree with Zach as to his own career. Wikipedia has his bio: Zach Kirkhorn - Wikipedia, as does his LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachkirkhorn.

Wikipedia says:
Education
From 2002 to 2006, Kirkhorn studied both Economics at The Wharton School and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. In 2013, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Career
During his studies in 2005, Kirkhorn joined Microsoft as a Financial Analyst Intern. In 2006, he did another 4-month internship at Microsoft as Program Manager Intern. After graduating in 2006, Kirkhorn spent nearly 3 years working at McKinsey & Company as a Senior Business Analyst.

In 2010, Kirkhorn joined Tesla as a Senior Analyst in Finance. In December 2014, he became Director of Finance, and in December 2018 he was appointed as Vice President of Finance. On January 30, 2019, Kirkhorn was announced to replace Deepak Ahuja as Tesla's new CFO on the Q4 Tesla earning call.

So when it comes to ignorance and arrogance, I think you win. This is not "new evidence".

So the fact is that Zach is a bean-counter, no matter how good. He was never an engineer. It is my opinion that that means he will never be CEO of Tesla, and that Elon will have lost his mind if he puts him in that position. It's not possible for him to do the job as it needs to be done for a company like Tesla. He's just great at the job he's doing.

My original post:

Drew to make COO at the Shareholder meeting?

First question is will Elon replace himself initially in just the COO position. My thinking is yes. Why not prove out his successor first? Gwynne remains COO at SpaceX - she is much closer to CEO than anyone else at Tesla. Clearly Elon is comfortable with the role.

I see Drew as COO and Zach as CFO sharing the responsibilities. One of them will step up and make CEO in a few years - my money is on Drew.

 

[CLK350]

Or Jerome Guillien returns from his sabbatical - with fresh new ideas. Being French he would bring some welcome culture/ taste besides usual tech & management leadership in new areas like the upcoming Tesla restaurant chains - or Boxabl homes

 

[Buckminster]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1419945154786381828

Hiro retweeting lends weight to the Zach argument.

 

[Buckminster]

Following the Bot reveal - you realise that Elon's replacement will need to be equally knowledgeable on AI as batteries etc. Not an easy task.

 

[Buckminster]

Will Elon be on the call tomorrow? If not, who will step up?

 

[Buckminster]

 

[CLK350]

Zach Kirkhorn hands down. Has been groomed by Elon since forever.

 

[Chunky Jr.]

I think it will be someone already there rather than hiring someone from the outside. Zach does seem like a logical choice.

 

[Xepa777]

Disagree on Zach. It needs to be a technical person to be the next CEO to keep the engineering culture alive. The entire Tesla culture works because Elon understands problems on deep technical level and can (subsequently) fire anyone on the spot for bullshitting or moving too slow.

Yes yes Zach did the M&T program at Penn he’s a little technical, but his career history is finance.


Drew or Ashok would orobabaly be best. I think Drew because fundamentally Tesla is a materials engineering company.

 

[CLK350]

Disagree on Zach. It needs to be a technical person to be the next CEO to keep the engineering culture alive. The entire Tesla culture works because Elon understands problems on deep technical level and can (subsequently) fire anyone on the spot for bullshitting or moving too slow.

Yes yes Zach did the M&T program at Penn he’s a little technical, but his career history is finance.


Drew or Ashok would orobabaly be best. I think Drew because fundamentally Tesla is a materials engineering company.

Good point, except for the fact that Elon would still call the shots, same as at SpaceX, IMHO

 

[henderrj]

Tesla's major problems are not technical. They are not engineering based.

If Elon gives up his CEO position can he then reassume the mantle of chairman of the board? If he does so and takes up also the mantle of Chief technology officer, could he not still run all the engineering at Tesla exactly as he wants?

They need a person to run the corporate part. That's where all of the major failures of Tesla seem to be happening right now. Think sales, repair, customer service, public relations, etc. All of these have to do with an inability to communicate with people properly. Elon's weakest attribute.

Tesla desperately needs a real corporate leader. Someone who does not take Elon's place, but instead strengthens those areas in which he is woefully lacking.

 

[Buckminster]

I'm going to go on the record and say there is more credibility to the Tom Zhu rumors than I think most here believe. A few reasons why, in no particular order

• The article, obviously. Not that it had much credibility, but usually these things come from somewhere.
• Elon tweeting saying SpaceX & Tesla don't really need him because the teams are so good
• This phase of Tesla is all about executing on massive growth. The products are all there and designed. (4680s, Semi + CT ramping, Energy, Robotaxing/small car presumably ready). A scale/execution CEO would make a lot of sense.
• Elon has mentioned in the past he doesn't necessarily want the CEO role anyway
• Elon has a new toy (whether we like it or not) and says those types of issues are a number one priority.
• China is very important to Teslas future, and a CEO from Tesla China would be a great way of making that clear.
• Giga Shanghai has been a huge success, 'nuff said. Who thought in 2019 that it would be capable of 1M+ cars/year?
• It was mentioned that Elon had already named a potential successor to the board, who realistically would we think it is? Zach? Despite him having a cool name it just doesn't seem that compelling.
• Tesla China has (as I understand it) operated with a bit more autonomy, meaning Tom Zhu has run basically a smaller Tesla within Tesla. Of all Elon's reports, he stands out when looking at potential successors for that reason.
• Elon recently mentioning urgent matters with the board. (Okay realistically this could be literally anything)
• More that I have forgotten while typing this, just take my word for it

I think we will see Elon step back from CEO, keeping some direct reports focusing on product development/FSD/Optimus, and let Tom Zhu take over as the man to lead Tesla through this huge growth phase. Masterplan part III. Achieving very large scale.

On the other hand, maybe I've just been thinking about this too long

 

[trayloader]

Drew or Jerome Guillen. Yes THAT Jerome. He had a special place in Elons heart, always. Even came back from his sabattical back then and was promoted head of automotive while verybody betted on him being ousted.
He is responsible for the Semi and is a charismatic technologist.

 

[Buckminster]

Imminent announcement of Tom becomes Chief of Tesla Worldwide Auto Division?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1607630224212234241

 

[rallykeeper]

If the Board were looking for a clean break, I'd suggest JB Straubel.

Acquire Redwood Materials, give JB an updated version of Elon's incentive package and let it fly.

Maybe we had the equation wrong the whole time.

Elon=Woz
JB=Jobs

 

[DrChaos]

If the Board were looking for a clean break, I'd suggest JB Straubel.

Acquire Redwood Materials, give JB an updated version of Elon's incentive package and let it fly.

Maybe we had the equation wrong the whole time.

Elon=Woz
JB=Jobs

JB is the core technical expert on batteries. Sourcing batteries, and choosing the next generation of commercializable chemistry will be the most important engineering decision for success, both in automotive and energy storage.

 

[Buckminster]

Exclusive: Tesla's head of China takes over sales in North America

 

[heltok]

Anyone remember that Shanghai talk Elon did a long time ago when he said that one in audience might be the next CEO?

 

[Buckminster]

This was from Elon musk's Twitter likes. Guess we have the Steve Jobs' Tim Cook for Tesla.

Or Tesla's Gwynne Shotwell.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1612131196649238529

 

[Buckminster]

I think Zach has such a great value for Tesla
Maybe the next CEO, he is calm and a great speaker