Tesla executive Omead Afshar, one of CEO Elon Musk’s most trusted aides and a long-time fixture within the company’s senior leadership, has left the electric vehicle maker, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Additionally, the media outlet reported shortly after that Tesla’s HR Director for North American region Jenna Ferrua is also leaving the company. Ferrua joined the company in mid-2020.
Afshar, who was promoted last year to oversee Tesla’s sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe, had been described internally as a key “fixer” who worked closely with Musk.
His departure has circulated internally in recent days, according to the report.
Afshar joined Tesla in 2017 as a Project Manager in the Office of the CEO, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was later promoted to Project Director in mid-2018 and spent over two years in that role before transitioning to a broader full-time position in July 2020. He spent a total of nearly eight years at Tesla.
Earlier this week, Afshar posted on social media platform X that Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi launch was an “absolutely historic day,” crediting “years of hard work and focus by so many people within the company” and thanking Musk “for pushing us all.”
In a separate post last year, Afshar recalled working closely with Musk during the company’s intense Model 3 production ramp-up, writing:
“I was with Elon nearly every single day during Model 3 hell. This included Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, his birthday and nearly missing his brother’s wedding.”
