Omead Afshar, one of Elon Musk’s closest allies and Tesla’s head of North American Sales and European Operations, has reportedly left the company. While some reports indicate the exit was voluntary, others suggest Afshar was fired.
Afshar joined Tesla in 2017 and quickly rose through the ranks due to his close working relationship with Musk, earning nicknames like “The Musk Whisperer” and “Tesla’s Fixer.” He played a critical role in overseeing the construction of Giga Texas and was involved in several high-profile projects, including SpaceX operations and the restructuring of Twitter into X.
Afshar was promoted last year to oversee Tesla’s sales and operations in North America and Europe. Those regions have become pressure points due to increasing competition and public backlash to Musk’s political affiliations.
Afshar celebrated the recent launch of Tesla’s pilot robotaxi service in Austin on June 22 with a post on X, calling it a “historic day.” Now just days later, Afshar has abruptly left the company, with Forbes reporting he was fired by Musk.
Afshar’s name has reportedly been removed from Tesla’s internal directory, and his LinkedIn profile and X account haves yet to be updated to reflect the departure. Tesla has not issued a public statement, and Musk has not commented on the matter.
His departure comes just days before the end of Q2 2025 and amid a turbulent period for the automaker. Tesla has faced declining EV sales for five consecutive months in Europe and a drop of at least 10% in global deliveries is expected this quarter. U.S. and Chinese markets have also seen downturns, with China posting a 15% year-over-year decline in May.
This marks the second high-level departure from Tesla in recent weeks, following the departure of Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot program. Kovac left Tesla citing personal reasons.
Relates Stories:
• Tesla begins internal probe over suspicious purchases
• Omead Afshar promoted to VP to lead Tesla’s North American and European operations
• Road next to Giga Texas now officially known as Tesla Road
