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Re:

Elon Musk Has Fired One of His Top Tesla Lieutenants

Omead Afshar, a longtime Tesla executive and Musk confidant, was reportedly fired in June 2025 as Tesla faced falling sales in North America and Europe. Here is what is confirmed, what remains unverified, and what the change means for investors.
From TheFinanceBase Team5 min to read
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Elon Musk reportedly fired Omead Afshar, one of his closest Tesla executives, in late June 2025, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Forbes. Other reports initially described Afshar as having left the company, and Tesla, Musk, and Afshar did not publicly confirm the firing or give an official reason.

The timing put the departure under particular scrutiny. Afshar had overseen Tesla’s sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe since October 2024, as the automaker faced falling sales in both markets and increasing pressure from competing electric-vehicle brands.

Who is Omead Afshar?

Afshar joined Tesla in 2017 and initially worked in Musk’s office. Over time, he became one of Musk’s trusted senior executives and took on broader operational responsibilities.

In October 2024, Tesla promoted Afshar to vice president overseeing sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe. That made his role broader than simply managing sales: it covered two major geographic regions and included manufacturing operations as well.

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Afshar was not Tesla’s worldwide sales chief. Senior vice president Tom Zhu continued to oversee sales in Asia, while Afshar was responsible for North America and Europe.

Was Afshar fired or did he resign?

The public reporting is not completely uniform. Bloomberg and Reuters initially used more cautious language, saying Afshar had left or departed Tesla. Forbes, citing people familiar with the situation, reported that Musk fired him.

The most accurate summary is therefore that Afshar was reportedly fired by Musk, according to people familiar with the matter. Tesla, Musk, and Afshar did not publicly confirm that account in the contemporaneous reports.

There was also no publicly stated company explanation for the departure. Reports connected it with Tesla’s weakening business in North America and Europe, but Tesla did not say that poor sales were the reason. That distinction matters for investors: a reported explanation is not the same as an official filing or management statement.

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Why the timing attracted attention

Afshar’s exit came during a difficult stretch for Tesla’s vehicle business.

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  • On June 25, 2025, Reuters reported that Tesla’s European new-car sales fell 27.9% year over year in May.
  • May marked Tesla’s fifth consecutive monthly decline in European sales.
  • During the same period, total battery-electric vehicle sales in Europe rose 27.2%, suggesting that Tesla’s weakness was not simply the result of consumers abandoning electric vehicles altogether.
  • Tesla had also just begun a limited robotaxi rollout in Austin, Texas. Afshar publicly praised the rollout on X on June 23, shortly before reports of his departure.

That combination—weak vehicle sales, a high-profile new technology launch, and the sudden removal of a senior regional operator—made the personnel change more significant than an ordinary executive reshuffle.

What happened to Tesla’s sales oversight?

After Afshar’s exit, Musk assumed oversight of Tesla sales in the United States and Europe. Tom Zhu continued overseeing sales in Asia.

Region Reported sales oversight after Afshar’s exit
United States and Europe Elon Musk
Asia Tom Zhu

Musk taking direct control can be read in two ways. It may allow him to respond quickly to a sales problem and reduce the time required to make decisions. But it also places more operational responsibility on a chief executive already directing Tesla’s vehicle, energy, autonomy, and robotaxi initiatives.

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What the sales numbers later showed

Tesla reported 384,122 vehicle deliveries in the second quarter of 2025, a 13.5% decline from the same quarter a year earlier. The delivery figure was released on July 2, 2025. Tesla published its full second-quarter financial update on July 23.

The result does not prove why Afshar left. It does, however, show why investors were focused on regional sales leadership at the time. Lower deliveries can affect revenue, factory utilization, pricing decisions, inventory levels, and cash generation. They can also force an automaker to increase discounts or offer financing incentives, which may support volume while reducing profitability per vehicle.

What investors should—and should not—infer

A senior executive’s departure can matter to shareholders, but the event should be placed in the wider financial picture rather than treated as a standalone buy-or-sell signal.

Reasonable questions to monitor

  1. Does Tesla stabilize deliveries? Watch quarterly deliveries by region, not just the global total.
  2. Are sales being supported by discounts? Higher deliveries are less valuable if they come with sharply lower automotive margins.
  3. Who takes permanent responsibility? A temporary arrangement in which Musk directly oversees U.S. and European sales may eventually be replaced by a formal appointment.
  4. Does management explain the change? Tesla’s earnings calls, regulatory filings, and investor communications may provide more context than initial news reports.
  5. Can robotaxi and other businesses offset vehicle weakness? Investors should distinguish ambitious future revenue plans from revenue already reported in Tesla’s financial statements.

Investors should avoid claiming that Afshar was fired solely because of falling sales. That explanation was reported as a likely connection, not confirmed by Tesla. They should also avoid saying that Tesla confirmed the firing, because the available contemporaneous reports did not establish that.

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A separate issue involving Afshar

Afshar had previously been linked in reporting to internal scrutiny over a special-glass procurement matter. However, the available reporting does not establish that the earlier matter caused his 2025 departure. Treating the two events as definitively connected would go beyond the evidence.

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What this means for Tesla shareholders

For shareholders, the immediate significance is less about one executive’s biography and more about accountability during a period of weaker vehicle demand. Afshar held responsibility for two of Tesla’s most important markets. His departure, followed by Musk’s assumption of direct oversight, indicates that regional sales performance had become a central management concern—or at least that the company was reorganizing leadership while that performance was under pressure.

The practical takeaway is to use the next available financial disclosures to test the market’s concerns. Key figures include vehicle deliveries, automotive revenue, gross margin, operating income, free cash flow, inventory, and regional demand. Those numbers can show whether the problem is a temporary product-cycle issue, a pricing problem, a competitive loss, or a broader deterioration in demand.

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FAQ

Did Elon Musk fire Omead Afshar?

Forbes reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Musk fired Afshar in late June 2025. Bloomberg and Reuters initially described Afshar as having left Tesla. Tesla, Musk, and Afshar did not publicly confirm the firing in the contemporaneous reporting.

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What was Omead Afshar’s role at Tesla?

Afshar joined Tesla in 2017 and was promoted in October 2024 to vice president overseeing sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe.

Why did Afshar reportedly leave Tesla?

No official reason was publicly provided. Reports linked the timing to declining Tesla sales in North America and Europe, but Tesla did not confirm that falling sales caused the departure.

Who oversaw Tesla sales after Afshar left?

Elon Musk assumed oversight of Tesla sales in the United States and Europe. Senior vice president Tom Zhu continued overseeing sales in Asia.

The Bottom Line

Omead Afshar was reportedly fired by Elon Musk in late June 2025, although Tesla did not publicly confirm the firing or its reason. His exit came as Tesla’s European sales were falling and before the company reported a 13.5% year-over-year decline in second-quarter deliveries. For investors, the key issue is whether Tesla can restore sales and margins—not whether the personnel change alone predicts the stock’s next move.

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