Omead Afshar, VP of Tesla America left the company after Robotaxi debut

Omead Afshar, a well-known Tesla leader, has reportedly left the company in a shocking turn of events, as the company recently rolled out the Robotaxi project on the road.

Afshar, who joined Tesla in 2017, worked his way through CEO Elon Musk’s inner circle and became the closest confidant, reporting directly to the chief. Over the past 8 years, Afshar has gone through different responsibilities within the organization.

He described himself as Musk’s fixer, focusing on problems that are hard to solve and issues up front. He worked alongside Musk during the Model 3 production and spent most of his time inside the factory overseeing the production goals.

In 2020, Afshar was appointed as the Senior Director of Giga Texas to monitor the construction of the Austin factory. His LinkedIn profile listed the job title as a cowboy hat emoji, reflecting his role at the Texas facility, which hasn’t changed as of now, even on X.

However, Musk briefly transferred Afshar to SpaceX as the Vice President of Starship production, switching from EVs to rockets. It’s unconfirmed whether he worked for both companies simultaneously during this timeline.

Afshar’s stay at SpaceX ended in 2023 as he resumed his role inside with increased responsibilities. That year, he continued to remain a prominent person inside Tesla, playing an influential role in Musk’s decisions.

In late last year, Musk promoted Afshar as Vice President of North America and Europe. He was responsible for overseeing sales and manufacturing operations in these two regions.

This departure also comes after Milan Kovac, Vice President of the Optimus division, announced he is leaving the company amid the program’s active development.

Meanwhile, Afshar has not officially confirmed this news; he last posted on X, “Absolutely history day for Tesla. This has been *years* of hard work and focus by so many people within the company. Thank you, Elon, for pushing us all!”.

Some speculate that the declining sales in the two regions are the reason behind Afshar’s exit, but we’ll have to wait for his formal statement.