Tesla's work culture ‘not for the faint of heart’: Sreela Venkataratnam quits Elon Musk's company amid senior exec exits
Tesla Vice President, Finance and Business Operations, who'd been with Elon Musk's carmaker for 11 years, quit this week, adding to mass employee exits.
Tesla's senior employee count is dropping like dominoes. Amid the ongoing mass walkouts and layoffs, another longtime worker has parted ways with Elon Musk's company.
Per her LinkedIn profile, Tesla Vice President of Finance and Business Operations, Sreela Venkataratnam, had worked there since early 2013. Her 11-year tenure began as Director of Finance Operation, and two years later, she moved up to the post of Senior Director Finance two years later, ultimately settling at the VP position from June 2019 to June 2024.
She announced her exit from the carmaker in a LinkedIn post two days ago. Although proud of her achievements, accompanied by the company's growth over the years, she finally confirmed her departure, writing this week: “After 11 incredible years, I bid farewell to Tesla. Reflecting on this journey, it has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
Mapping out her projects since her early days in Tesla, when it “was a company with less than $1B in yearly revenues, a market cap of ~$4B and less than 3000 cars delivered in a year,” she proudly professed to be “one of only two women VPS in the company.” Observing the Elon Musk carmaker's trajectory, she also said: “I am proud of how much we’ve achieved together.”
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Tesla's former CFO responds to the post
Jason Wheeler, Tesla's former CFO, joined in to express appreciation for Venkataratnam's decision in the comments. “You did it right, Sreela. Congrats on an amazing run at a company that wasn't always easy to work at. Bravo!”
The former Tesla VP expressed her gratitude to Wheeler and agreed with him. “It is definitely not for the faint of heart! It was great working with you especially during those tough days!” As it turns out, Venkataratnam clearly needs some time away from the hectic commotion and mind-numbing exhaustion. Her LinkedIn post confirms that she will take a break before seeking new professional opportunities.
Venkataratnam's departure comes months after the company slashed over 10% of its workforce. In April, the Tesla Motors CEO also told the employees that the company needed to be “absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction.”
Other senior Tesla employees who parted ways in the recent past
In addition to the mass layoffs happening in the background, several other senior executives walked out on their own accord.
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A former Tesla employee who'd previously been attached to the brand for nearly eight years told Business Insider that their lack of faith in Musk's leadership fuelled their exit. Despite their initial confidence in his and the company's vision, their view about them eventually dwindled.
The person even went as far as claiming that he “was pretty hands-off for some of 2023” and that “it was radio silence for a bit from Musk" once he took over Twitter. Later, he turned his attention back to Tesla and sent out an email about taking an active part in approving all hiring.
One of the statements from this former employee's account matches that of Venkataratnam and Wheeler, as they also highlighted how “Tesla's breakneck pace can be exciting, but it can also get exhausting.”
Similarly, Drew Baglino, the company's former senior vice president of powertrain and electrical engineering, also announced that he was leaving Tesla earlier this year. He had been associated with Musk's business for 18 years.
"I made the difficult decision to move on from Tesla after 18 years yesterday. I am so thankful to have worked with and learned from the countless incredibly talented people at Tesla over the years.
I loved tackling nearly 🤣 every problem we solved as a team and feel gratified…" he tweeted on X, formerly Twitter.
Around that time, Tesla's vice president of public policy and business development, Rohan Patel, also exited. He told TechCrunch that he had quit due to “overall changes” at the company.