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Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

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Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#21

Post by andreygrehov »

cududa wrote: post #16
andreygrehov wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's always a big deal, but can also mean nothing? So, pure speculation?

The vast majority of the time it’s a big deal, which makes it newsworthy. As well, any well run company would announce at least a few quarters in advance that the CFO is leaving. They don’t abruptly quit or get fired after 13 years without something brewing

With respect, I do not think this is a newsworthy case.

> Mr. Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition.

Absolutely zero things to discuss here.

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#22

Post by Kranar »

cududa wrote: post #16
andreygrehov wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's always a big deal, but can also mean nothing? So, pure speculation?

The vast majority of the time it’s a big deal, which makes it newsworthy. As well, any well run company would announce at least a few quarters in advance that the CFO is leaving. They don’t abruptly quit or get fired after 13 years without something brewing

Actually the vast majority of the time it's not at all a big deal. The average tenure of a CFO among the S&P 500 is 3.5 years. It's really not a big deal.

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#23

Post by bluefishinit »

TylerE wrote: post #19
toolz wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe more charitably stated, it's a fun title to break the monotony of common titles. Surely just because we disagree with musk on other decisions we don't have to denigrate some harmless fun. I welcome the day where we treat business less seriously.

I'm sure the reams of people Musk pushed out at his various companies are just rollin' in the aisles over that one.

Or any of the Tesla workers that have been subject to the company's culture of racism: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-03-25/black-tesl...

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#24

Post by dvt »

pdq wrote: post #15

Not good when a CFO abruptly resigns (or is fired). Usually companies project this quarters ahead to the public, with a soft notice that "XYZ will be retiring next year". Yes, Kirkhorn "will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition", but this reads as a rush notice. His IR page is also gone: https://ir.tesla.com/corporate/zachary-kirkhorn

> Yes, Kirkhorn "will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition", but this reads as a rush notice.

I don't own any $TSLA (or one of their cars), but this is like the opposite of a rush notice. Heck, he will continue working for Tesla for almost half the year. Seems like typical HN "everything Elon does is bad" bandwagoning.

I mean, just earlier today the HP CFO resigned[1] and was replaced immediately.

[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hewlett-packard-enterprise-cf...

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#25

Post by conductr »

revel wrote: post #9
andreygrehov wrote: post #7

People come, people leave. Why is that a big news?

The CFO leaving is always a big deal. It can mean nothing but it can also mean a really spectacular blowup is about to take place.

13 years is a long tenure as CFO, on surface this means nothing.

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#26

Post by toomuchtodo »

pdq wrote: post #15

Not good when a CFO abruptly resigns (or is fired). Usually companies project this quarters ahead to the public, with a soft notice that "XYZ will be retiring next year". Yes, Kirkhorn "will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition", but this reads as a rush notice. His IR page is also gone: https://ir.tesla.com/corporate/zachary-kirkhorn

He has worked at Tesla for 13 years. When would be the right time to go? He’s already done very well from his stock grants.

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#27

Post by NotYourLawyer »

pdq wrote: post #15

Not good when a CFO abruptly resigns (or is fired). Usually companies project this quarters ahead to the public, with a soft notice that "XYZ will be retiring next year". Yes, Kirkhorn "will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition", but this reads as a rush notice. His IR page is also gone: https://ir.tesla.com/corporate/zachary-kirkhorn

4 months seems like plenty of notice, and the opposite of a rush.

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#28

Post by wpietri »

revel wrote: post #9
andreygrehov wrote: post #7

People come, people leave. Why is that a big news?

The CFO leaving is always a big deal. It can mean nothing but it can also mean a really spectacular blowup is about to take place.

Exactly. Since CFOs are in charge of the numbers and can be legally on the hook for them [1], their departure always gets people to perk up a bit. Even if there isn't crime involved, when they guy who knows the financials best decides he'd rather be elsewhere, it can be a sign that there's a coming plateau or downturn.

That's especially interesting in the case of Tesla, whose stock is down something like 40% from peak, and who is facing increasingly stiff competition from basically every automaker in the world.

[1] e.g., "fraud by negligence": https://www.reuters.com/business/sec-charges-smart-window-ma...

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#29

Post by mtmail »

zgluck wrote: post #8
gabrielsroka wrote: post #4

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000095017023...

That was 4 days ago and this is the first we hear of it? This - 9 hours ago: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-cfo-kirkhorn-steps-down... Tesla CFO Kirkhorn steps down, replaced by chief accounting officer Vaibhav Taneja Kirkhorn stepped down after a 13-year run at Tesla. (HN is slow.)

Bottom of the 8-K document says "Date: August 7, 2023". So possibly (I'm not familiar with SEC filings) filed late Friday after business hours Aug/4h and then it got published by SEC Monday Aug/7th at start of business day?

Re: Tesla, Inc. 8-k filing – CFO leaves Tesla

#30

Post by Kranar »

pdq wrote: post #15

Not good when a CFO abruptly resigns (or is fired). Usually companies project this quarters ahead to the public, with a soft notice that "XYZ will be retiring next year". Yes, Kirkhorn "will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition", but this reads as a rush notice. His IR page is also gone: https://ir.tesla.com/corporate/zachary-kirkhorn

Just to put things in context, the average tenure of a CFO among S&P 500 companies is 3.5 years.

I don't think that's a big deal, but apparently people commenting here think a CFO departing is some kind of major signal of something. At any rate, it's at least worth knowing quantitatively that this happens once every 4 years or so.

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