Elon Musk's righthand man at Tesla has reportedly joined SpaceX after the electric-car maker launched an investigation into the top lieutenant
Omead Afshar has been given the title of vice president of Starship production at SpaceX, Bloomberg reported.
Steve Nesius/Reuters
- Elon Musk has brought in Omead Afshar to help lead Starship production, Bloomberg reported.
- It's unclear whether the top Tesla lieutenant has parted ways with the electric-car maker.
- It was previously reported that Tesla was investigating Afshar over a company purchase he had authorized.
Omead Afshar, a top lieutenant at Tesla, has joined SpaceX, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The publication reported that Afshar has been given the title of vice president of Starship production at the rocket ship company, citing two people with knowledge of the issue. The Starship is Elon Musk's most ambitious rocket ship. It's the spacecraft the billionaire plans to use to one day carry people and cargo to Mars.
It's unclear whether Afshar is still working at Tesla. Sources told Bloomberg that Afshar has not been seen at Tesla's Austin facility for several weeks. On Sunday, Afshar tweeted he was "so proud" of Giga Texas. Two former employees previously told Insider that Afshar led Tesla's Texas gigafactory and often acted as Musk's "direct report."
Spokespeople for Tesla and SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication. Insider reached out to Afshar through Twitter but did not immediately receive a response.
In July, Tesla was reportedly investigating Musk's righthand man after he authorized the purchase of construction materials that the system flagged as items that could be for Elon Musk's personal use. At the time, Tesla had already terminated several employees as a result of the investigation and Bloomberg reported Afshar was likely to leave the company next.
Though, David Searle — the legal chief that was reportedly investigating Afshar — left the company in August, Bloomberg reported. At the time, Tesla said the report was false and Searle's LinkedIn profile still indicates he works at Tesla.
It can be illegal to use company funds for personal expenses — especially when dealing with a publicly traded company. If a public company were found to have used company funds for an executive's personal use it could lead to an IRS investigation and lawsuits from shareholders.
Afshar has yet to update his employment on LinkedIn. He has worked at Tesla for over five years in the office of the CEO, according to his LinkedIn page. The executive's job description on LinkedIn is simply an emoji with a cowboy hat.
Musk has been known to trade his employees back and forth between his companies. Most recently, the billionaire brought in over 50 Tesla engineers to help out at Twitter.
Do you work at Tesla, SpaceX, or have insight to share? Reach out to the reporter from a non-work email at gkay@insider.com