Key Tesla Executive and Elon Musk Confidant Departs Amidst Company Challenges
Omead Afshar, a powerful executive and one of Elon Musk’s closest confidants, has departed from Tesla Inc., becoming the latest high-profile leader to leave the electric vehicle maker during a period of significant volatility and restructuring. News of Afshar’s exit, which reportedly circulated internally in recent days and involved his name no longer appearing in company directories, marks a notable shift at the top levels of the organization.
Often referred to as Musk’s “right-hand man,” “fixer,” or “Musk Whisperer,” Afshar joined Tesla as an engineer in 2011 and rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming a project manager in the CEO’s office by 2017. He was known for his relentless pursuit of perfection and ability to align with Musk’s vision, earning deep trust within the company. A key achievement was his oversight of the construction of the massive 10-million-square-foot Gigafactory Texas plant in Austin. His influence extended beyond Tesla, with a promotion to Vice President at SpaceX in late 2022, and he was reportedly involved in cost-streamlining efforts during Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now X).
In 2024, Afshar was promoted to a crucial role overseeing sales and manufacturing operations across both North America and Europe, two markets that have recently experienced significant declines in vehicle sales. His departure comes just days before the end of the second quarter and is linked by some reports to these challenging sales figures and a perceived drop in the brand’s popularity.
A Pattern of High-Level Departures
Afshar’s exit is not an isolated event but part of a broader trend of senior executives leaving Tesla over the past 14 months. This period has seen departures from critical areas, including robotics (Milan Kovac, former head of the Optimus program, left in June 2025), battery technology (Vineet Mehta, Drew Baglino), Supercharging (Rebecca Tinucci), and public policy (Rohan Patel). Notably, Jenna Ferrua, the human resources director for North America and reportedly a close colleague and HR adviser to Afshar, also departed around the same time, a coincidence some employees found unsurprising.
This wave of executive shifts coincides with a company-wide restructuring effort that includes thousands of job cuts and a strategic pivot towards artificial intelligence-powered self-driving technology and robotics. The context also includes challenges like a potential consumer backlash related to Musk’s perceived political associations and increased market competition from rivals offering more affordable EVs.
Despite the internal turmoil and market pressures, Afshar remained publicly supportive of the company’s initiatives until very recently. He posted positively about the planned robotaxi rollout in Austin just days before his departure, calling it an “absolutely historic day for Tesla” and thanking Elon Musk.
The backdrop to these changes is Tesla’s challenging financial performance in 2025, with shares down approximately 19% year-to-date. Industry analysts are forecasting a second consecutive annual decline in global vehicle deliveries, which would mark the first time in the company’s history this has occurred, underscoring the volatile period during which key leaders like Omead Afshar are making their exits.