Omead Afshar is reportedly set to take on a leadership role overseeing Tesla’s operations in both Europe and the United States. Afshar, a longtime confidant of CEO Elon Musk, has been with Tesla since 2017.
Omead Afshar, born in 1985, has a diverse background that shaped his career before joining Tesla. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine, graduating in 2009. His choice of UCI was influenced by its strong biomedical engineering program, which he found appealing due to the field’s potential impact on health and longevity. Before entering the tech industry, Afshar worked as a part-time ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain. He began his professional career at St. Jude Medical in 2011, managing operations related to Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) until 2017. Following this, he briefly held the position of Manager of High Voltage Operations and Operations Business Systems at Abbott Laboratories after it acquired St. Jude Medical.
Since joining Tesla seven years ago, Afshar has worked closely with Musk, initially as a Project Manager and later as Project Director. As of July 2020, his LinkedIn profile humorously features a smiley face wearing a cowboy hat—symbolic of his involvement in the construction of Giga Texas.
Interestingly, Afshar’s current role is not widely publicized, with only insiders at Bloomberg and the WSJ providing clarity on his responsibilities. He currently holds the position of Vice President, overseeing production and sales. In this capacity, he is said to report to leaders like Troy Jones, Vice President of Sales and Service for North America, and Jason Shawhan, Head of Production at Giga Texas.
Afshar’s tenure at Tesla has not been without controversy. He allegedly stepped down in 2022 and was involved with Musk’s
other ventures. Allegations surfaced during his time at Giga Texas concerning the procurement of a special glass, which was reportedly ordered at the company’s expense, raising suspicions of misappropriated resources. Reports suggested this was part of a secret project for a glass-walled structure intended for Musk.
According to reports, Afshar is now expected to assume some responsibilities previously held by Zhu, taking on a dual role in both North America and Europe. He will continue to report directly to Elon Musk. While his specific duties remain unclear, Tesla has been facing challenges maintaining its growth trajectory in these regions. In some markets, vehicle registrations are increasing at a slower pace or have slightly declined. Despite overall delivery growth, the impact of a global price war is evident in the company’s financials.
Furthermore, Musk no longer views Tesla’s automotive business as the core driver of its future. He is channeling more resources into robotics and artificial intelligence, and there have been notable leadership changes in these areas: Ashok Elluswamy has taken on the role of Vice President of Autopilot and AI software, and Milan Kovac is now Vice President for the humanoid robot Optimus.
