A Tesla veteran just resigned, saying it’s ‘definitely not for the faint of heart’

Sreela Venkataratnam posted on LinkedIn that she is leaving after 11 years to take a break and spend “quality time with family, reconnect with old friends and focus on personal wellness.” Venkataratnam’s exit is the latest in a string of at least six other high-ranking executives who have left this year amid massive layoffs and the dismantling of nearly the entire Tesla Supercharger team. During April, three executives resigned within two weeks, including longtime vice president of investor relations Martin Viecha, senior vice president Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel, vice president of public policy and business development.

In her farewell post, Venkataratnam described her journey at the company as “nothing short of extraordinary”. She joined when Tesla had less than $1 billion in revenue and under $4 billion in market cap. When he left, annual revenue was approaching $100 billion and the market capitalization reached $1 trillion during the pandemic before falling, Venkataratnam wrote. In recent years, Tesla has unsettled its non-adherent investors with struggles, including a 30% drop in value, slowing hiring and job cuts. He suspended his summer internship program. Meanwhile, this year the company rallied Tesla investors to re-approve Musk’s eye-watering $56 billion pay package after a judge struck it down in January. Venkataratnam’s exit leaves another woman in a company vice president role, she said, and follows the departure of another top female executive, Allie Arebalo, who was head of human resources and left after six years.

Venkataratnam wrote that she is grateful for her time at the company and hopes to find another “incredible opportunity like Tesla” when she is ready for another job. Colleagues and supporters wished her well, including one, Jason Wheeler, who congratulated her on “an amazing run at a company that hasn’t always been easy to work for”.

Venkataratnam replied, “Definitely not for the faint of heart! It was great working with you, especially on those rough days!” Wheeler’s LinkedIn profile shows he was chief financial officer and senior adviser at Tesla from 2015 to 2017.

Not all Tesla departures were so jovial. The head of product launches, Rich Otto, resigned in May amid the layoffs and wrote on his departure that the cuts were “shaking the company and his morale.”

“Great companies are equal parts great people and great products, and the latter is only possible when its people thrive,” Otto wrote in a LinkedIn post. He said job cuts and the impact on workplace culture had destroyed Tesla’s harmony and left him in need of a change.

“It’s a company I love that has given me so much, but also taken a pound of flesh,” Otto wrote.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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