A relatively young pick motivated to prove himself in a highly visible position that others have left seems perfect to me. I think he will be a stable choice and stay for a while.
Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
21–30 of 71 posts
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#22He seems pretty well-known within the company. First joined Tesla 9 years ago, Wharton undergrad, Harvard MBA. He’s obviously qualified, what’s with all the ageist comments? 34 years old is a “kid” now? On HN of all places? Who cares if he’s a “relative unknown” according to WSJ. Is notoriety an important qualification for CFO?
For a CFO position of a publicly traded company, 34 years old isn't a kid--it's practically a toddler.
But the bigger issue is that he simply doesn't have the experience that would be expected of a CFO of a publicly traded company, especially one that employs so many non-standard accounting metrics.
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#23Looks like Musk found the fall guy.
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#24This is a huge red flag, in my opinion. A CFO is legally responsible for compliance to exchange regulations, SEC, etc. Reporting is based on judgement, regarding the interpretation of very complex rules.
I would have liked to see someone with external experience that has a frame of reference as to how other companies do things, in a high-pressure, regulated environment; a la Ruth Porat.
Musk is a big personality, with a my way or the highway attitude. Ultimately, I'd feel more comfortable with someone who could unequivocally walk away, and in doing so, would send a huge signal that something doesn't smell right.
In my experience, someone who grew up drinking the coolaide won't have the experience / ability to pull the company back from disaster. Think about all the folks at Uber. It's sad, but you need experienced and ethical leadership, that has an obligation beyond just to the CEO, in Legal / Compliance and Accounting. Especially given the wild ride at Tesla, this is more important now than ever.
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
When the last CFO left in under 2 years, and many other senior execs seem to be fleeing, the worrisome implication is that TSLA has trouble attracting and retaining senior talent given the work pressure and thin financial margin, so they are instead turning to a relatively green home-bred 34 yo. At the end of the day, I'm not personally worried about this and think this guy will likely do just fine, but this is suffi…
>the worrisome implication is that TSLA has trouble attracting and retaining senior talent given the work pressure and thin financial margin A lot of "senior talent" are probably entitled, slow, and pedestrian. A lot of companies like these people because they are good at maintaining a caste system and shaking hands. I think Tesla, as a disruptor, both needs and hates these employees. They need someone who has "done…
Yes, I work with senior talent all the time.
Musk is precisely the bad kind of senior talent--imperious, oblivious, and completely unwilling to listen to advice from others even when he's been shown to be wrong.
The senior talent that's spent the last 3 years leaving Tesla? They've got documented success at other companies within their respective niches. With Finance, especially, you want someone with experience and knowledge because Finance is quite literally the heart of your company. The CFOs and other CxOs that have left Tesla have done good jobs at other companies, so the fact that so many of them are leaving Tesla, especially within such a short window and without replacement positions lined up, is good evidence that Tesla's books are in bad shape. No CFO of a publicly traded company leaves the job voluntarily if everything's fine.
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
When the last CFO left in under 2 years, and many other senior execs seem to be fleeing, the worrisome implication is that TSLA has trouble attracting and retaining senior talent given the work pressure and thin financial margin, so they are instead turning to a relatively green home-bred 34 yo. At the end of the day, I'm not personally worried about this and think this guy will likely do just fine, but this is suffi…
>the worrisome implication is that TSLA has trouble attracting and retaining senior talent given the work pressure and thin financial margin A lot of "senior talent" are probably entitled, slow, and pedestrian. A lot of companies like these people because they are good at maintaining a caste system and shaking hands. I think Tesla, as a disruptor, both needs and hates these employees. They need someone who has "done…
[deleted]
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it is noteworthy given the notoriety of Musk and the high pressure situation being CFO of a company whose CEO makes numerous unsubstantiated claims. If I were an investor in TSLA this would not be welcome news to me. Is this person, relatively young for CFO, in a position to stand up to Musk? Is this person going to be just a yes man so to speak?
> Is this person, relatively young for CFO, in a position to stand up to Musk? Maybe not, but is that even the job of a CFO? The CFO works for the CEO, right?
> Maybe not, but is that even the job of a CFO?
The board has to hold itself to account, and that means members of the board have to hold each other to account.
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#28There's no obvious reason he couldn't do this job. Executive roles are very culturally sensitive, and this guy knows the firm. Given decreasing margin returns to experience, how much more experience does he need? The guy who turned around LEGO was also in his 30s when he took over, seemed to go fine. In case you're wondering whether I think everyone in their 30s can take a leading role, I think there's a fair chance…
The issue isn't that he wouldn't be great in a VP of Finance or Controller role--the issue is that he's been appointed the CFO of a publicly traded company with serious past, present, and future financial and regulatory challenges. And he has absolutely no experience dealing with the regulatory challenges, which is more than half of a CFO's job.
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
When the last CFO left in under 2 years, and many other senior execs seem to be fleeing, the worrisome implication is that TSLA has trouble attracting and retaining senior talent given the work pressure and thin financial margin, so they are instead turning to a relatively green home-bred 34 yo. At the end of the day, I'm not personally worried about this and think this guy will likely do just fine, but this is suffi…
Do you think they have difficulty retaining senior talent because they are underpaying or that Tesla is a shit-show to work for? Either way, it's extremely difficult for younger people to be in CxO positions unless they start a company. I'm extremely doubtful that most can't do the job, it's just that they can't get hired. I'm sure this person will do just as good of a job as any 50+ yo with an extra decade or two of…
> Do you think they have difficulty retaining senior talent because they are underpaying or that Tesla is a shit-show to work for?
The latter; I can't imagine exec compensation at Tesla is bad. That said, the CFO role is going to be very tough when they have major financial obligations coming due this year.
And seeing as how the boss is a guy who proselytizes ideas straight out of science fiction comics, I'm guessing he won't be very understanding when the CFO says "I can't just move these numbers around".
Re: Elon Musk’s Surprise Pick for Tesla CFO Is a Relative Unknown
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
When the last CFO left in under 2 years, and many other senior execs seem to be fleeing, the worrisome implication is that TSLA has trouble attracting and retaining senior talent given the work pressure and thin financial margin, so they are instead turning to a relatively green home-bred 34 yo. At the end of the day, I'm not personally worried about this and think this guy will likely do just fine, but this is suffi…
Do you think they have difficulty retaining senior talent because they are underpaying or that Tesla is a shit-show to work for? Either way, it's extremely difficult for younger people to be in CxO positions unless they start a company. I'm extremely doubtful that most can't do the job, it's just that they can't get hired. I'm sure this person will do just as good of a job as any 50+ yo with an extra decade or two of…
Finance isn't like programming. Programming is skill-based, so it's easy to become good at a quickly.
Finance is knowledge-based, and a lot of that knowledge can only be learned by actual on-the-job experience. So, years of experience in a knowledge-based field is simply a shortcut/rubric for measuring a person's knowledge of their craft.
Typically, people in knowledge-based fields who think that they're as good at their jobs after 4-5 years as someone who has been practicing 10+ years are full of $$$$ and tend to create more problems for their clients/employers than they solve.