Who is Sendil Palani? Tesla VP who joined during ‘Deathwatch’ era resigns; Elon Musk thanks him for ‘epic contribution’
Sendil Palani, Tesla’s Vice President of Finance, left the company after working for the company for 17 years. The high-profile departure comes as the electric vehicle maker shifts its focus from its core business to artificial intelligence and robotics.
Palani announced his departure in a post on X: “After seventeen incredible years, my final term at Tesla has come to an end.”
He also left Musk and Tesla happily, heaping praise on both. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for demonstrating (Elon Musk’s) infinite love for humanity and the power to think from first principles about everything, always. When abundance is achieved and the meaning of money ceases to exist, these lessons will be the most valuable commodity in our economy,” Palani wrote.
“Remember that Tesla’s mission is so ambitious and complex that any narrative about the company will naturally be an oversimplification. Always seek the truth about the company. And support it in every way possible! There are few higher callings/better uses of your time.” added
Musk also responded to the post, writing: “Thanks for your epic contribution over the years!”
According to a Bloomberg report, sales in Tesla’s core EV business have declined for the last two years in a row. Meanwhile, the shift to robotaxis and humanoid robots is being explained by Musk’s longtime ally Omead Afshar; David Lau, Tesla’s vice president of software engineering; Milan Kovac, head of engineering for the Optimus robot program; and Troy Jones, North American sales manager.
Who is Sendil Palani?
According to his LinkedIn profile, Palani holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Wharton School and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He then went on to get an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Palani first joined Tesla in January 2009, when the company was ‘barely surviving’ around Christmas 2008, and began working in the Finance team as part of an ongoing ‘Tesla Deathwatch’. Palani says he slept under his desk in San Carlos at least once, and he wasn’t the only one.
His LinkedIn indicates that he worked at Tesla twice, the first from 2009 to 2011, and eventually rose to the position of Business Development Manager for Powerrain. After that, Palani briefly worked as a Product Manager at Google and a Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bynes, returning to the EV manufacturer in 2014 as a Manufacturing Project Manager.
