Elon Musk reportedly fires Tesla’s high gross sales exec
Omead Afshar, Tesla’s vp in control of gross sales and manufacturing in North America and Europe, has reportedly been fired by CEO Elon Musk, in line with Forbes.
It’s not instantly recognized why Musk fired Afshar, who was considered one of his high lieutenants and closest confidants on the firm. Afshar, Musk, and Tesla didn’t reply to requests for remark. Afshar’s departure was first reported by Bloomberg Information.
As not too long ago as Tuesday, Afshar was posting help for the restricted rollout of Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. “Completely historic day for Tesla,” he wrote on June 23 on X, the social media platform his former boss owns. “Thanks, Elon, for pushing us all!”
His departure comes at a time when the corporate’s gross sales development has vanished. Tesla offered fewer vehicles in 2024 than it did in 2023, the primary annual drop because it began mass-producing EVs greater than a decade in the past.
Musk’s involvement in U.S. politics has not helped, regardless of his latest pledge that he was leaving the Trump administration. Gross sales continued to wrestle by the primary half of 2025. The corporate’s industry-leading income fell 71% year-over-year within the first quarter. European gross sales fell almost 28% p.c year-over-year in Could. Tesla will report international supply figures for the second quarter subsequent week, and monetary outcomes for the interval in mid-July.
Afshar was not a very public-facing government at Tesla. He joined the corporate in 2017 and spent years working within the “workplace of the CEO.” He took on rising obligations ever since; Musk has beforehand credited Afshar with main the development of Tesla’s large manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas.
Not lengthy after that, although, Afshar discovered himself in sizzling water. In 2022 he grew to become the topic of an inside probe after he was allegedly concerned in a plan to buy particular materials for a glass constructing Musk reportedly needed. Each the Division of Justice and the Securities and Trade Fee started investigating these purchases in 2023.
Throughout a few of that point interval, Afshar moved over to SpaceX and reportedly was concerned with X for some time. Musk elevated him to the position of vp in late 2024 after one other high government, Tom Zhu, moved again to China.
Bloomberg Information additionally reported Thursday that Tesla’s director of HR for North America, Jenna Ferrua, is now not with the corporate. She didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.