Tesla CTO JB Straubel is stepping down
Tesla’s (TSLA) chief technical officer JB Straubel is stepping down from his position and transitioning to an advisory role, the company announced during a conference call Wednesday.
“I’m not disappearing ... this is not some lack of confidence in the team or anything like that,” Straubel said during the call. “I love the team and I love the company and I always will.”
Straubel, one of the founders of Tesla, said he would continue to help the company in some of its ongoing projects.
“I’m excited to stay involved in some of our core technologies,” he added, just “not in an executive-type role.” Straubel had overseen technical and engineering projects for Tesla as CTO since 2005, and played a key role in developing Tesla’s battery technology.
Drew Baglino, currently vice president of technology, will fill Straubel’s role, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced during the call.
Shares of Tesla fell 11.5% to $234.40 each as of 6:58 p.m. ET, after Tesla announced wider-than-expected quarterly losses and revenue that missed consensus expectations.
This isn’t the first time Tesla has dropped news of a C-suite shake-up in an earnings call with investors.
In January, Musk announced at the end of a conference call discussing fourth-quarter results that Deepak Ahuja was retiring as chief financial officer of the company. Ahuja has since been replaced with Zachary Kirckhorn, previously vice president of finance for the company.
Tesla has endured dozens of executive departures across departments over the course of the past year. In one recent example, Steve MacManus, a former Tesla vice president overseeing car interior and exterior engineering, departed the company and joined iPhone-maker Apple (AAPL) as a senior director, Bloomberg first reported this week.
—
Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck
Read more from Emily:
Netflix’s 2Q global paid subscriber additions miss expectations
Tech companies like Lyft want your money – not ‘your opinion’
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and reddit.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
