Vaibhav Taneja: All About Tesla’s Indian-American CFO!

Vaibhav Taneja is the newly appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Tesla, the US-based world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.

Vaibhav who is presently serving as the  Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of Tesla will be replacing its current CFO Zachary Kirkhorn who was widely believed to be the possible successor to the company CEO Elon Musk.

In addition to moving to the new role of CFO, Vaibhav will also continue to handle his current role as the head of accounting.

A professional with more than two decades of accounting experience with multinational companies, Vaibhav Taneja became a part of Tesla after the company acquired SolarCity, the solar panel maker in 2016.

Physical Stats

Vaibhav Taneja Family

Though Vaibhav is of Indian origin, there are no details available about his family members in public sources.

Education

In 1996, Vaibhav joined Delhi University to pursue a 3-year Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com). degree and passed out in 1999.

Simultaneously he did a course in Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Later, in 2006, Vaibhav became a Certified Public Accountant.

Earnings And Lifestyle

The annual salary of Vaibhav is yet to be announced by public sources. However, as per Glassdoor.com, the average basic pay of a CFO at Tesla comes to $228,730 (Rs. 1,89,42,846) per year without any bonus or profit sharing.

Profession

Vaibhav started his professional career in July 1999 with PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four accounting firms. He joined the company’s Delhi office with the designation of Assistant Manager.

Vaibhav’s main responsibilities in that role included managing audits of companies belonging to diverse industries such as telecom, entertainment, media, and financial services. He also looked into technical accounting issues and provided clients with consultation and advisory services.

In December 2003, Vaibhav was promoted to Senior Manager at PwC and his posting was at its San Jose office in California, United States. In that role, he gained significant experience working with mid-cap and large-cap clients. Vaibhav also held leadership positions for various firm initiatives.

After serving PwC for a long 16 years and 9 months, Vaibhav quit the organization in March 2016. In the same month, he joined as Vice President, of Accounting Operations with SolarCity, a solar panel manufacturing company at their San Mateo office in California. After working for 6 months in that role, Vaibhav moved to San Francisco Bay Area as Vice President, Corporate Controller.

In 2016, with Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity, Vaibhav became a part of the electric vehicle manufacturer. It was he who spearheaded the integration of Tesla and SolarCity’s accounting teams. With the turn of events, Vaibhav rose through the ranks in the  Musk-owned automobile company.

In February 2017, he moved to the role of Assistant Corporate Controller and continued working in that designation for 1 year and 4 months. In May 2018, Vaibhav was promoted to Corporate Controller, and within 11 months, he was elevated to the position of Chief Accounting Officer (CAO). 

In January 2021, Viabhav was appointed as Director of Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited, the Indian arm of Tesla. On August 7th, 2023, Tesla in a regulatory filing announced that its current CFO Zachary Kirkhorn has stepped down and Vaibhav will be taking over as the new CFO. Zachary, a Tesla veteran with 13 years of experience was widely expected to succeed Musk as the CEO of the company.

However, the company did not reveal the reason behind his exit. It was also announced that Vaibhav, apart from managing his new role of CFO will also be handling his current designation of CAO. 

Vaibhav Taneja Net worth

Reportedly, Vaibhav’s net worth is estimated to be around $52.1 million. As per sources, Vaibhav also owns 104,504 units of Tesla, Inc common stock.

Lesser Known Facts About Vaibhav Taneja

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