Tesla VP Sendil Palani resigns after 17 years, Elon Musk thanks him for 'epic contribution'

Sendil Palani announced his exit on X, thanking Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his “endless love of humanity.”

Published on: Mar 10, 2026 4:35 PM IST

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After spending 17 years with Tesla, the EV firm's vice president Sendil Palani has announced departure on Monday, March 9, at a time when the company is looking to focus more on artificial intelligence.

Palani announced his exit in an X post, saying "my latest chapter at Tesla has come to a close." In response to Palani's post, Elon Musk replied, “Thanks for an epic contribution over many years!”

Recounting his experience at Tesla, Palani said the company barely survived Christmas of 2008 when he started his journey, just before he had joined its finance team under “Tesla Deathwatch”. “I slept under my desk in San Carlos, CA at least once, and I wasn’t the only one,” Palani wrote in a long post.

Appreciating the commitment of Tesla employees, Palani wrote that while many companies have hardworking employees, “few have the level of commitment and collaboration of the Tesla team.”

Palani also Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his “endless love of humanity.”

“Tesla’s mission is so ambitious and complex that any narrative about the company is naturally an oversimplification,” Palani said to the outside world.

Also read: Elon Musk set to be world's first trillionaire? Tesla CEO's net worth at $850 billion

Who is Sendil Palani

Palani joined Tesla back in 2008 as a Senior Financial Analyst, as per his LinkedIn profile. Over the years, he worked at Tesla in two stints, first from 2009 to 2011 and then from 2014.

In 2014, he joined as a Manufacturing Project Manager and rose through the ranks to become Senior Finance Manager, Director, Senior Director, and finally Vice President of Finance in 2021.

According to Palani's LinkedIn profile, he holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from The Wharton School, along with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Also read: 5 things to know about India-spec Tesla Model Y

High-profile exit amid low sales

Palani is the latest high-profile executive to leave Tesla in recent years as the company works to deploy robotaxis in more cities and produce humanoid robots. Sales have reportedly declined for 2 consecutive years in Tesla’s core EV business amid sluggish demand in the US, Bloomberg reported.

Other executives who have left the company include longtime Musk confidante Omead Afshar; David Lau, Tesla’s vice president of software engineering; Milan Kovac and the head of engineering for the Optimus robot program.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Akansha Purohit
Akansha Purohit is a Content Producer at Hindustan Times, where she is part of the online news desk. She began her journey with the organisation as an intern and later joined the newsroom in a full-time editorial role. With close to a year of experience at Hindustan Times, she contributes to the daily news cycle by writing, curating, and editing digital content. Her work primarily focuses on national and international news, along with explainers that simplify complex developments and ongoing issues. She also writes on matters of public interest, and handles blogs with live updates. Akansha holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, and completed her postgraduate studies in Digital Media from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi. During her postgraduate programme, she worked on several research and journalism projects that strengthened her reporting, editing, and digital storytelling skills.Read More

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