Tom Zhu, the head of Tesla’s China operations, is reportedly pushing for a greater position at the company despite earlier, murkier reports that he will succeed Elon Musk as CEO.
We covered a story earlier this month that Tesla China President Zhu will succeed Musk as the company’s CEO.
We had our doubts about the claim because it was published by a Chinese publication that had recently been found guilty of distributing false information about Tesla in China and was demanding payment from the firm.
Some reports, though not necessarily the CEO position, are starting to give Zhu at least a bigger role at Tesla.
Zhu has been selected to run Gigafactory Texas, as we previously revealed earlier this monthIt’s possible that Zhu will assume the position of either President of Tesla or President of Tesla Automotive in this situation.
These roles have been held before.
Tesla does not currently have anyone in such positions, however before joining Lyft in 2018, Jon McNeil had the position of “President of Sales and Services,” which included a variety of aspects of the business. According to reports, Musk assumed his obligations.
In a management shake-up at around the same time, Jerome Guillen was appointed Tesla’s first “President of Automotive,” in charge of “all automotive operations and program management,” and reporting directly to Musk.
Guillen has held important positions with Tesla for a long time, including managing the Model S program and serving as VP of engineering.
