Tesla Veteran Finance VP Departs in Latest High-Profile Executive Exit at Automaker -- WSJ

Tesla's head of finance operations has left the company, further shuffling the electric- vehicle maker's top ranks after several longstanding leaders departed amid a restructuring this past spring.

Tesla Vice President Sreela Venkataratnam, an 11-year veteran of the company, said in a post on LinkedIn Wed that she would take time off work after stepping down from her role.

Venkataratnam was one of the two most-senior female executives at Tesla. Her departure leaves Laurie Shelby, vice president of environmental, health, safety and security, as the lone woman in Chief Executive Elon Musk's executive team.

Venkataratnam said she played a strategic role in factory construction, the ramping up of vehicle manufacturing and the growth of its energy business. During her tenure, the company grew from a market capitalization of USD4 billion to a height of USD1 trillion in 2021. It is now trading at a market cap around USD700 billion.

The eV maker has seen a wave of high-profile executive exits over the past year, including the two most senior deputies in Musk's tight inner circle -- his CFO and head of the energy business -- who led Tesla through rapid growth in vehicle sales and global expansion.

Tesla is facing growing competitive pressures in the EV market, as well as uncertainty from Musk's shifting strategy, in which he has positioned Tesla for another leg of growth by recasting the automaker as an artificial-intelligence and robotics company. Musk is making deep capital investments in its "Full-Self Driving" driver-assistance software and its Dojo supercomputer, as well as an upcoming robotaxi product.

Tesla has seen vehicle sales decline over the past year, hurt by its aging lineup, decelerating EV demand in the U.S. and increased competition in China. Tesla shares are down more than 11% from the beginning of the year.

Last Aug, Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn stepped down after four years in that role and more than 10 years at the company. He was replaced by Vaibhav Taneja, the chief accounting officer at Tesla, who joined the company in 2016.

In mid-Apr, amid more than 10% companywide layoffs, Tesla's Senior Vice President of energy Drew Baglino left the company. Baglino, who worked at Tesla for 18 years, was widely viewed as Musk's second in command.

Rohan Patel, Tesla's head of public policy, left at the same time, and soon after Tesla's head of investor relations, Martin Viecha, announced he would also leave his role.

In late Apr, Musk fired Tesla's senior director of Supercharger, Rebecca Tinucci, and her entire team. Some of those employees since have returned to the company. On Thu, Tinucci announced that she had joined Uber as its head of sustainability.