Vaibhav Taneja appointed Chief Financial Officer of US electric car giant Tesla

US electric car giant Tesla has appointed Indian-origin Vaibhav Taneja as its Chief Financial Officer as the previous finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn announced his decision to step down, according to a company filing on Monday.

Taneja, 45, was appointed Tesla CFO in addition to his current role as Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of the auto major. He has served as Tesla’s CAO since March 2019 and as the Corporate Controller since May 2018. He also served as the Assistant Corporate Controller between February 2017 and May 2018, and from March 2016, served in various finance and accounting roles at SolarCity Corporation, a US-based solar panel developer acquired by Tesla in 2016.

Taneja was earlier employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers in both India and the US between July 1999 and March 2016, the company filing said.

Tesla also said the company recorded “tremendous expansion and growth” during Kirkhorn’s 13-year tenure.

“Tesla thanks Mr Kirkhorn for his significant contributions. Mr Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition,” it said.

“This morning Tesla announced that I’ve stepped down from my role as Chief Financial Officer, succeeded by our Chief Accounting Officer, Vaibhav Taneja,” Kirkhorn said in a LinkedIn post.