Musk confidant Omead Afshar leaves Tesla in latest high-level exit: reports
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The news: Omead Afshar, a powerful executive at Tesla and one of Elon Musk’s closest confidants, has left the company, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources, in another high-level departure during a volatile period for the electric vehicle maker.
The context: Afshar was promoted in 2024 to oversee sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe. Both those markets have seen plunging sales, attributed in part to rising competition and backlash to Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
His exit is the latest in a string of high-level departures in recent weeks as Tesla grapples with waning demand and internal restructuring. Recent exits include head of engineering for the Optimus humanoid robot program Milan Kovac, who left earlier this month, and human resources director for North America Jenna Ferrua, who according to Bloomberg sources, has also left the company.
Afshar joined the company in 2017, was part of the CEO’s office, oversaw the Austin plant construction, and had recently praised the robotaxi rollout on social media.
His name no longer appears in Tesla’s internal directory, and some of his reports now report to Tom Zhu, Tesla’s senior vice president of automotive, according to the news agency.
The numbers: Tesla shares have fallen over 19% this year. According to Reuters, analysts expect a second straight annual decline in global deliveries, a first in the company’s about two-decade history.
The source: Bloomberg
