What’s going on at Tesla? The electric vehicle manufacturer, navigating a challenging business landscape marked by increased competition and evolving consumer sentiment, also appears to be facing a significant internal crisis: a rapid exodus of top talent.
Elon Musk’s group has now lost its 10th executive this year. The latest departure is Piero Landolfi, who announced his exit on LinkedIn after nearly nine years with the company.
“After 8 3/4 years I have made the difficult decision to leave Tesla,” Landolfi posted. “It was hard because of the incredibly talented and passionate people that I had the privilege to work, sweat and laugh with as we were accelerating the world to sustainable energy, against all odds and in spite of what used to be the general beliefs about electric cars.”
He continued: “It was hard because of the amazing products we build, the first principle thinking and the getting stuff done mentality that makes Tesla such an exciting place to work at.
The post has garnered significant attention, with over 834 likes and nearly 250 comments, largely from individuals who collaborated with him during his tenure at Tesla or in his leadership role.
Landolfi cited the familiar desire for a “new and different adventure” as his reason for leaving. “However, it is now time for my next adventure. This is the way,” he concluded, echoing a popular phrase from the Star Wars franchise.
His next move is to Nimble, an AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology company, where he has taken on the role of Senior VP of Operations. Notably, Nimble already counts former Tesla veterans among its ranks, suggesting a potential trend of talent migrating from the EV maker to the burgeoning AI and robotics sectors.
A Cascade of Departures
Landolfi’s journey at Tesla began in October 2016 when he joined as Director of Services, Technical Operations. His contributions led to a promotion nearly four years later to Director of Services, North America, a position he held until his departure this month.
His exit marks the tenth executive departure from Tesla this year, a cascade of departures that has hit nearly every critical division of the company. The exodus began in February with the exit of David Imai. April saw the departures of David Lau and Mark Westfall. The pace accelerated in May with the loss of Prashant Menon and Vineet Mehta. June witnessed the exits of Omead Afshar, Milan Kovac (Head of Optimus Humanoid Robot Team), and Jenna Ferrua (Director of HR). Last month, Troy Jones, the VP of Sales, Service, and Delivery in North America, left. This month, in addition to Landolfi, Pete Bannon, the VP of Hardware Engineering (Chip Tech and Dojo Supercomputer), also announced his departure.
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