Crazy Musk: Seven executives resign, the second in command is sent to Shanghai, starting the fourth round of layoffs.

A storm of layoffs is sweeping through Tesla.

CEO successor candidate Tom Zhu has been "demoted and sent abroad," but that's considered a good outcome.

Seven other executives, including former number two Andrew Baglino, have left directly.

In just 20 days, 7 executives have resigned, and there have been 4 rounds of layoffs.

The reasons for all of this are unknown, but according to Musk's spoilers, it's all for the shift to AI, in order to sprint towards Robotaxi.

AI can make Tesla great again, regain high growth, and support Musk's dream of reaching Mars.

Change needs to start from a more dynamic organization.

The crazy Musk is reshaping Tesla.

Just revealed news, Tesla is starting a new round of layoffs.

This mainly includes software, services, and engineering departments.

Including the earlier public policy team, the fully charged team that has been disbanded, the new vehicle project team planning staff reductions at the same time, and later the positive electrode material manufacturing team, this is already the fourth round of layoffs.

The layoffs are being carried out in parallel from top to bottom, with seven executives leaving one after another.

Among them is the former number two figure, Baglino, who has worked at Tesla for 18 years, starting as an electrical engineer and rising to Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy, ranking second only to Musk in the company, witnessing Tesla's journey from startup to the top.

He left on the same day Tesla announced the start of a large-scale layoff.

Also leaving on the same day were Rohan Patel, Vice President of Public Policy and Business, and since then, Tesla has seen an average of one senior executive leaving every three days:

- Martin Viecha, Vice President of Investor Relations

- Allie Arebalo, Senior Director of Human Resources

- Daniel Ho, Head of New Car Projects

- Anthony Thurston, Head of Positive Manufacturing

- Rebecca Tinucci, Head of the Supercharging Team

Tinucci is a typical example of Musk's use of authority to "grab."

There are reports that initially Musk only intended to lay off some of the Supercharger team, but DiNucci resisted, believing that the number of people was too many.

As a result, DiNucci and the entire team left together.

Afterwards, Musk wrote an email to the executives:

"I hope these actions can clearly demonstrate how determined we are to reduce costs through layoffs. Most executives have not taken (layoffs and cost reduction) seriously."

He also warned the managers that if they retain more than three employees with inadequate capabilities in the team, they would leave with the employees.

Compared to the departing executives, Zhu Xiaotong is undoubtedly much better.

It's not an exaggeration to say that she is currently the center of attention.

Although it may seem like a "demotion abroad," being far from the headquarters and serving as the Senior Vice President of the Greater China region, Zhu Xiaotong has actually become more important.

Most directly, due to Bagnino's departure, Zhu Xiaotong's ranking has moved up a step, and she is now second only to Musk, making her the company's second-in-command.

In addition, the business it is responsible for is even more important.

Just as the Musk whirlwind visit to China has just returned to the United States, it was revealed that Zhu Xiaotong is returning to China. Therefore, the outside world speculates that Zhu's arrival is to promote the landing of FSD in China.

China once again took action to save Tesla, and Musk once again entrusted Zhu Xiaotong with an important task.

In 2019, the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory rose rapidly from the ground and was delivered in less than a year, allowing Tesla to break free from production hell and begin to soar.

Leading the construction of the Shanghai factory behind the scenes was none other than Zhu Xiaotong.

He slept at the factory and worked nearly 24 hours a day, playing an undeniable role in resolving Tesla's crisis.

Now, Tesla is turning to AI, and FSD is not only the core of the Robotaxi business, but also the key to enhancing Tesla's competitiveness and boosting sales in China.

Zhu Xiaotong was once again chosen by Musk.

Although Tesla's current situation is far from the disaster of 2019, the dream of reaching for the stars and the fierce competitive market environment have forced Musk to take a series of measures.

What happened to Tesla?

The catalyst for the layoffs and restructuring was Tesla's poor performance in the first quarter of this year.

The first-quarter financial report showed that Tesla delivered 386,800 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 8.5%.

Revenue fell short of expectations, gross profit margin continued to decline, net profit was only $1.129 billion (approximately RMB 8.18 billion), a sharp drop of 55% compared to the same period last year, and a drastic decrease of 602% from the previous quarter.

During the financial report conference call, Tesla executives explained the officially announced massive layoff of 10,000 employees as an optimization for prepared growth.

Elon Musk also stated in the company-wide layoff letter that the company is ready to enter the next stage.

Although Musk did not provide specific details on this matter, recent actions and signs from Tesla suggest a shift from EV to Robotaxi, with AI being the focus and growth hope for Tesla's business.

The industry giant is turning towards restructuring, requiring a thorough overhaul from top to bottom. As a result, we have seen short-term layoffs and the departure of several senior executives.

The layoffs and restructuring are a practical necessity for Tesla and are also related to Musk himself.

This is a demonstration of his management style:

Avoiding excessive growth, proactively laying off employees, and forming the company with small, strong teams.

At the same time, some analysts believe that the departure of senior executives makes Tesla even more reliant on Musk, solidifying his position.

At the beginning of this year, Musk's astronomical $56 billion salary was rejected, and the compensation plan will be reconsidered at the next shareholder meeting.

The vote on the compensation plan is actually a vote of confidence in Tesla's CEO, Musk. The departure of each executive further increases Tesla's reliance on Musk, which is favorable for the plan to be approved.

Without this compensation, Musk would not have become the world's richest person, and more importantly, his dream of Mars would also be delayed.

Pursuing extraordinary dreams naturally requires extraordinary means.

This series of actions seems to be aimed at shifting towards AI and sprinting towards Robotaxi.

It confirms the saying: Musk is always tinkering, always on the road to entrepreneurship.