- According to Portal, Tesla has appointed CEO Tom Zhu to head up US plants and sales.
- This would make Zhu Tesla the second highest executive after Elon Musk.
- Some shareholders have urged Musk to step down as Tesla’s CEO after the company lost nearly $700 billion in market value last year.
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Tesla has promoted its China boss Tom Zhu to head of US plants and sales, according to an exclusive report from Portal, citing an internal publication of reporting lines.
The move would make Zhu the second-highest executive at the electric-vehicle maker behind hard-pressed CEO Elon Musk.
Some shareholders have called on Musk to step down after the company’s market cap plummeted by over $700 billion last year.
They’re concerned about a drop in shipments as China’s fight to contain COVID-19 cases has led to a slump in production, as well as a 47% plunge in the company’s share price since Musk announced his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October completed 27.
The stock slipped another 3.7% to trade at $118.60 before Tuesday’s opening bell after Tesla missed Wall Street’s estimates for fourth-quarter deliveries.
Zhu, who joined Tesla in 2014, will reportedly continue to serve as vice president for Greater China while taking on additional responsibilities as head of assembly plants, sales operations, services and supplies for the North America region.
Musk’s new deputy wears Tesla-branded fleece rather than a suit and tie — and was one of the first Tesla employees to start sleeping at the factory last year when a two-month COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai threatened to disrupt production to discontinue, according to Portal.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Continue reading: Wall Street’s biggest Tesla bull still sees the stock rallying 122% from current levels — and doesn’t blame Musk’s Twitter play for a brutal sell-off in December