Who is Sendil Palani? Tesla VP who joined during ‘Deathwatch’ era resigns; Elon Musk thanks him for ‘epic contribution’

Tesla VP of Finance Sendil Palani has quit the company after having been assciated with it for 17 years. The high profile depature comes as the EV maker shifts its focus to artificial intelligence and robotics from its core business.

Palani announced his exit in a post on X, writng, “After seventeen incredible years, my latest chapter at Tesla has come to a close.”

He also parted with Musk and Tesla on a happy note, heaping praises on both.Palani wrote, “A heartfelt thanks for your (Elon Musk's) endless love of humanity, and for demonstrating the power of thinking from first principles at all times, about all things. When Abundance is achieved and money ceases to have meaning, these lessons will be the most valuable commodity in our economy.”

“Remember that Tesla’s mission is so ambitious and complex that any narrative about the company is naturally an oversimplification. Seek the truth about the company at all times. And support it in any way that you can! There are few higher callings/better uses of your time.” he added

Musk also responded to the post, writing, “Thanks for an epic contribution over many years!”

As per a Bloomberg report, Tesla sales have dclined for last two consecutive years in its core EV business. Meanwhile, the shift towards robottaxis and humanoid robots is said to have led to several high profile exits including long time Musk ally Omead Afshar; David Lau, Tesla’s vice president of software engineering; Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for the Optimus robot program; and Troy Jones, a North American sales executive.

Who is Sendil Palani?

As per his LinkedIn profile, Palani holds a bachelor's degree in Finance from The Wharton School along with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He then went to get an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Palani first joined Tesla back in January 2009 when the company had just ‘barely survived’ Chiristmas 2008 and he started in the Finance team under an ongoing “Tesla Deathwatch”. Palani says he slep uner his desk in San Carlos at least once and he wasn't even the only one.

His LinkedIn states that he worked at Tesla in two stints, first from 2009 to 2011 where he was ultimately elevated to the position of Manager of Powerrain Business Development. After that Palani also worked as a Product Manager at Google briefly and served as an Associate at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bynes before returning back to the EV maker in 2014 as Manufacturing Project Manager.