Tesla executive Drew Baglino, who ‘didn't like meetings’ with Elon Musk, resigns

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing, China.

Tesla’s senior vice president Drew Baglino resigned from the company in the midst of the carmaker’s largest-ever round of job cuts. Slowing electric-vehicle demand forced the company to reduce its global headcount by more than 10% resulting in as much as 20% job cuts in some divisions.

Who is Drew Baglino and why has he resigned?

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Drew Baglino has been one of just four named executive officers at Tesla. He was leading engineering and technology development for the company’s batteries, motors and energy products, Bloomberg reported. With an experience of 18 years, Drew Baglino has even co-hosted earnings calls and shared the stage with Elon Musk at multiple events, including Tesla’s investor day last year.

Elon Musk’s biographer, Walter Isaacson, described Drew Baglino as a personable engineer and recounted a tense first meeting the executive had with the CEO.

“I never want to be in another meeting with Elon,” Walter Isaacson quoted Drew Baglino saying to Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel.

Have more top executives resigned from Tesla?

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Rohan Patel, Tesla’s vice president of public policy and business development has also resigned, he said on social media. In August last year, Zachary Kirkhorn stepped down as CFO after 13 years with Tesla.

Why are job cuts happening at Tesla?

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Elon Musk announced decision to cut headcount by potentially more than 14,000 people globally. In an email to staff, citing duplication of roles and the need to reduce costs, he said, “As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done.”

“Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe. With this rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas,” he added.

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