Elon Musk
Chief Executive Officer
Executive
17 yr
7 reports
Tesla, Inc. ·TSLA
CEO-centric functional structure with no permanent COO layer
Motor Vehicles · Fortune #39 · Functional structure · 140K employees · Austin, TX
7
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 10)
2.9
Avg span
moderate
3
Max depth
flat for 140K emp
3.4 yr
Avg tenure
71%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$94.8B
Operating income
$4.4B
Net income
$3.8B
Total assets
$137.8B
Shares out
3.75B
Sourced from Tesla, Inc. 10-K · filed 2026-01-29 ↗ View on SEC
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Tesla, Inc. organizational chart
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Tesla runs a CEO-centric functional organization with no permanent COO, giving Elon Musk direct control over engineering, AI, manufacturing, finance, and robotics. This page maps Tesla’s leadership structure, key executives, governance context, and peer comparisons.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Andrew Baglino departed as SVP, Powertrain & Energy Engineering
Departed April 2024
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO to absorb manufacturing and operations oversight, reducing CEO span.
- Consolidate AI & Robotics Move Optimus under AI leadership to unify autonomy and robotics development.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
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- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
8 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Tom Zhu
Senior Vice President, Automotive
Automotive
2 yr
0 reports
internal
Lars Moravy
Vice President, Vehicle Engineering
Engineering
6 yr
0 reports
internal
Vaibhav Taneja
Chief Financial Officer
Finance
3 yr
0 reports
internal
Ashok Elluswamy
Vice President, Autopilot & AI Software
AI / Software
4 yr
0 reports
internal
Milan Kovac
Vice President, Optimus Program
Robotics
2 yr
0 reports
Brandon Ehrhart
General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Legal
4 yr
0 reports
Unknown
Vice President, People & HR
Human Resources
1 yr
0 reports
The businesses
How Tesla, Inc. divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Automotive
90K employees
Senior Vice President, Automotive (Tom Zhu)
Designs, manufactures, and sells Tesla’s vehicle lineup globally.
Energy Generation & Storage
10K employees
Chief Executive Officer (Elon Musk)
Develops and sells battery storage and solar energy products.
AI & Autonomy
8K employees
Vice President, Autopilot & AI Software (Ashok Elluswamy)
Builds Full Self-Driving software, AI training systems, and inference hardware.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Tesla’s most distinctive structural feature is the absence of a permanent COO, with Elon Musk directly managing an unusually broad functional leadership team.
Core functions—engineering, AI, manufacturing, finance, legal, and robotics—report straight to the CEO, reinforcing Musk’s hands-on operating model. This concentrates decision authority at the top while enabling rapid cross-functional pivots, particularly across AI, autonomy, and manufacturing.
- No permanent COO
- AI and robotics report directly to CEO
- Founder-centric operating model
The comparison
How Tesla, Inc. stacks up
Compared with other global automakers and Big Tech firms, Tesla operates with a flatter, more CEO-centric structure. Peers such as GM and Ford rely on layered operating divisions and COOs, while Apple and Microsoft interpose strong operational presidents. Tesla’s structure trades redundancy and managerial depth for …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Avg C-suite tenure
Has COO / Has CAIO
Tesla, Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Ford Motor Company ✓ COO — no CAIO
BYD ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most significant recent change was Andrew Baglino’s April 2024 departure, increasing CEO-level span across engineering and energy.
- Date not confirmed departed
- Date not confirmed promoted
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
10-K filed 2026-01-29
- CEO
- Elon Musk
- CEO span
- 7
- C-suite
- 6
- Avg tenure
- 3.2 yr
Post-Baglino departure, CEO span increased.
Named executive officers (3)
- Elon Musk - CEO since 2008
- Vaibhav Taneja - CFO since 2023
- Tom Zhu - SVP Automotive since 2023
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Tesla, Inc.?
Elon Musk has served as Tesla’s CEO since 2008.
What type of organizational structure does Tesla use?
Tesla operates a functional structure centered on direct CEO oversight of core functions.
How many direct reports does Tesla's CEO have?
Elon Musk has seven direct executive reports.
How has Tesla's leadership changed recently?
Key changes include Andrew Baglino’s April 2024 departure and Vaibhav Taneja’s promotion to CFO in August 2023.
Does Tesla have a COO?
No—Tesla does not have a permanent Chief Operating Officer.
Sources
- Company Newsroom, Apr 2024
- 8-K Filing, Aug 2023
- SEC EDGAR: Tesla, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Tesla, Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
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"Tesla, Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/tesla/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Tesla, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/tesla/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Tesla, Inc.. 10-K. Filed 2026-01-29. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026003952/tsla-20251231.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/tesla/ · last updated 2026-04-01