By
Grace Kay
Every time Grace publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider’s
Terms of Service and
Privacy Policy.
Follow Grace Kay
- Tesla vice president Raj Jegannathan announced he had left the carmaker after 13 years.
- Jegannathan had been tasked with leading Tesla's sales and service departments in North America.
- Tesla delivery numbers have slumped over the past year.
Raj Jegannathan, who was once tasked with managing Tesla's sales and service team in North America, announced his departure from the company on Monday.
Jegannathan, Tesla's vice president of IT, took over the sales organization shortly after Troy Jones, the former vice president of North America sales and service, left the company in July. During his time on the team, Jegannathan worked to incorporate more AI tools in sales and service team workflows, five people with knowledge of the issue told Business Insider.
"A comprehensive end-to-end understanding of the business has been essential—enabling the team to harness AI effectively to achieve meaningful outcomes across products and customer support," Jegannathan wrote on LinkedIn on Monday.
The executive, who reported directly to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, left the company over the weekend, a person with knowledge of the issue told Business Insider. Jegannathan has not been active on internal company systems since late January, and he has not worked closely with the sales team for a few months, people with knowledge of the issue said.
Prior to taking over leadership of the sales team, Jegannathan worked in engineering and IT, rather than sales. He has worked at Tesla for over 13 years. Shortly after he took the reins, he became known for responding to sales and service requests on X.
Jegannathan has led the company through a tumultuous sales period. Tesla reported in January that its delivery numbers fell for the second year in a row. The carmaker reported a 16% year-over-year decline in deliveries during the quarter. Jegannathan led the sales efforts while Musk worked with the federal government as a part of the Department of Government Efficiency, before the organization was dismantled.
Several of Musk's direct reports have left the company over the past year. One of Musk's top lieutenants, Omead Afshar, parted ways with the carmaker in June, and Milan Kovac, the head of Tesla's robotics division, left the company that same month.
Tesla and Jegannathan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider
Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at 248-894-6012. Use a personal email address, a nonwork device, and nonwork WiFi; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
