Cars and Drivers

Is Tesla in Trouble After Another Executive Departure?

Chris Lange

Published: February 20, 2019 11:25 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:26 am

With Valentine’s Day clearly in the rear view, one of the biggest breakups this week is coming from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA). The electric vehicle (EV) giant is parting ways with another of its executive team. In this case, it’s General Counsel Dane Butswinkas.

After only two months on the job, Butswinkas is returning to his trial practice in Washington, D.C. However, he will continue to aid Tesla in an outside counsel role.

This is another executive departure for Tesla, which has seen a great deal of turnover in its ranks over the past several years, adding more concerns to who is actually driving Tesla. The most recent, CFO Deepak Ahuja, announced that he was leaving the company in January.

According to CNBC, sources familiar with the matter said he was not a good cultural fit with Tesla.

Jonathan Chang, Tesla’s current vice president in legal, will take over Butswinkas’s position.

Butswinkas commented:

I’m grateful for the opportunity over the past seven months to have worked with both Elon and Tesla, first as outside counsel and most recently as General Counsel at Tesla. I am returning to my home in Washington, DC and to my trial practice at Williams & Connolly. I look forward to continuing my work with Tesla in an outside counsel role. I have observed and have tremendous confidence in Jonathan’s leadership skills and in the Tesla team. When I joined the company, I said it would be hard to identify a more timely or essential mission than Tesla’s—that’s as true today as it was then.

Shares of Tesla were last seen trading at $304.90, in a 52-week range of $244.59 to $387.46. The consensus price target is $332.44.