Elon Musk’s Tesla just lost another longtime veteran executive, continuing the spree of resignations at the $700 billion electric-vehicle maker this year.
Sreela Venkataratnam posted on LinkedIn that she was leaving after 11 years to take a break and spend “quality time with family, reconnect with old friends, and focus on personal well-being.” Venkataratnam’s exit is the latest in a line of at least six other high-profile executives who left this year, amid massive layoffs and the axing of nearly the entire Tesla Supercharger team. During the month of April, three executives quit in the space of two weeks, including longtime vice president of investor relations Martin Viecha; senior vice president Drew Baglino; and Rohan Patel, vice president of public policy and business development.
In her farewell post, Venkataratnam described her journey at the company as “nothing short of extraordinary.” She joined when Tesla had less than $1 billion in revenues and was under $4 billion in market cap. As she left, annual revenues were nearing $100 billion with the market cap hitting $1 trillion during the pandemic before it dropped, Venkataratnam wrote. Tesla has rattled its non-die-hard investors with struggles in recent years, including a 30% decline in value, hiring slowdowns, and job cuts. It suspended its summer internship program. Meanwhile, the company this year rallied Tesla investors to reapprove Musk's eye-popping pay package, valued at $56 billion, after a judge rescinded it in January. Venkataratnam’s exit leaves one other woman in a VP role at the company, she said, and follows the exit of another top female executive, Allie Arebalo, who was head of human resources and left after six years.
Venkataratnam wrote she was grateful for her time at the company and hoped to find another “incredible opportunity like Tesla” when she was ready for another job. Colleagues and supporters wished her well, including one, Jason Wheeler, who congratulated her on “an amazing run at a company that wasn’t always easy to work at.”
Venkataratnam replied, “It is definitely not for the faint of heart! It was great working with you especially during those tough days!” Wheeler’s LinkedIn profile states he was chief financial officer and a senior advisor at Tesla from 2015 to 2017.
Not all Tesla departures have been as jovial. Head of product launches Rich Otto quit in May amid the layoffs and wrote as he left that the cuts were “rocking the company and its morale.”
“Great companies are made up of equal parts great people and great products, and the latter are only possible when its people are thriving,” Otto wrote in a post on LinkedIn. He said job cuts and the impact on the workplace culture threw the harmony out of whack at Tesla and left him needing a change.
“It’s a company I love and that has given me so much, but has also taken its pound of flesh,” Otto wrote.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
