Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn, who abruptly left the company earlier this week, is about to become a lot richer.
Kirkhorn joined Tesla in 2010 as a senior analyst and advanced through the ranks before being named CFO in 2019. He assisted in steering the company through the “production hell” of the Tesla Model 3, which nearly bankrupted the company. His first year as CFO saw the firm set sales records from their electric vehicles.
Kirkhorn was formerly considered a potential successor to Tesla CEO Elon Musk due to his achievements. When he was appointed CFO, the automaker was worth $50 billion, it was worth $782 billion at the time of his departure.
The departing CFO, Kirkhorn, had a base salary of $300,000 per year at the time of his resignation, according to a check of securities filings by Bloomberg, but more importantly, he has stock holdings and other options worth over $550 million.
According to Securities and Exchange Commission records, he has sold modest amounts of his Tesla stock at various intervals during his employment.
He most recently sold 3,750 shares at $261 apiece on August 8. Bloomberg discovered that these deals, together with his stock holdings and other advantages, totaled a whopping $590 million.
Vaibhav Taneja, the company’s current CFO, will take over as CFO and continue in his existing position.
