Afshar (inset) is one of Elon Musk’s closest confidantes. — Photos from x.com/omead
SAN FRANCISCO: Omead Afshar, one of Elon Musk’s closest confidantes, has been promoted to oversee Tesla Inc.’s operations in North America and Europe, according to people familiar with the matter.Afshar, who worked in the "Office of the CEO,” is now a vice president overseeing manufacturing and sales, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing a private matter.
His direct reports include Troy Jones, the VP of North America Sales and Service, as well as Jason Shawhan, the director of manufacturing for Tesla in Texas. The Wall Street Journal first reported the move.
Musk has also promoted other lieutenants to run key parts of the business: self driving and Optimus, the name of Tesla’s humanoid robot.
Ashok Elluswamy is now vice president of Autopilot and AI software, and Milan Kovac is vice president of Optimus. Both changes were reflected on LinkedIn last night.
The additional responsibilities were given to them prior to Tesla’s unveiling of the Cybercab last week, said a person who declined to be identified discussing internal matters.
Afshar came under internal scrutiny in 2022 for his role in purchasing hard-to-get construction materials, Bloomberg reported, and worked at SpaceX for a time.
Musk has a long history of shuffling executives from one part of his empire to another, or sharing them across his companies.
The Austin-based electric car maker has just three named executive officers: Musk, chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja and Tom Zhu, the senior vice president of automotive.
