Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Rivian said Friday it has hired Tesla’s vice president of Finance and Business Operations to become its Chief Accounting Officer from next Monday, March 10.
Sreela Venkataratnam, who joined Tesla in March 2013 as Director of Accounting, will oversee Rivian’s financial reporting, tax and trade, internal controls and compliance, finance transformation management, and manufacturing controllership.
In July 2024, Chief Accounting Officer Jeffrey Baker resigned. Just three weeks later, Chief Commercial Officer and President for Business Growth, Dr. Kjell Gruner, also left after only 11 months at the company. Both cited a desire to “pursue other opportunities.”
After two and a half years as Tesla’s Director of Accounting, Venkataratnam was promoted in 2015 to Senior Director of Finance. Four years later, she became one of the company’s vice presidents.
“In this role, she was instrumental in building and scaling Tesla’s global operations and enhancing business efficiencies during a period of rapid expansion,” Rivian said in a statement.
Meanwhile, as reported earlier on Friday, Rivian quietly removed its Senior Vice President of Vehicle Programs, Donald “DJ” Novotney, from its leadership page.
Last year, the company experienced a wave of executive departures, including its Chief Accounting Officer, Chief Communications Officer, VP of Manufacturing Operations, and sales chief.
In August, Chief Communications Officer Sarah O’Brien, a former Tesla VP, stepped down after just over a year in the role. Around the same time, Vice President of Manufacturing Tim Fallon also departed. He later joined Stellantis NV as head of manufacturing for North America.
