Who is Vaibhav Taneja? The new Indian-origin Tesla CFO

Indian-origin Vaibhav Taneja [L] becomes Tesla's new CFO after Zachary Kirkhorn's [R] departure.

Taneja, aged 45, rose from Tesla's accounting chief in 2019, with prior experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India and the US.

His journey began at Delhi University, leading to Tesla through SolarCity's acquisition in 2016.

He advanced through roles, becoming Assistant Corporate Controller in February 2017 and then Chief Accounting Officer in 2019.

With over 20 years of accounting expertise, Taneja held positions across global sectors like telecom, finance, and technology.

Taneja collaborated closely with ex-CFOs Kirkhorn and Ahuja on US and international financial matters.

Kirkhorn's departure ended his four-year CFO tenure, known as 'master of coin,' overseeing Tesla's turnaround to profitability.

Kirkhorn joined Tesla in 2010 as a senior financial analyst and was promoted five times, most recently to CFO in early 2019 at the age of 34. Before he took over, Tesla had a long history of losses and occasionally burned more than $1 billion of cash per quarter.

Under Kirkhorn, Tesla went from losses and cash burn to consistent profits, paying off billions of debt and joining the S&P 500.

In his LinkedIn post, Kirkhorn praised Tesla's journey during his 13-year tenure and expressed confidence in the transition.