Tesla CEO and corporate prankster Elon Musk will no longer be CEO but instead, fulfill his duties as "Technoking of Tesla."
The head-scratching title was disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, along with chief financial officer Zach Kirkhorn's new role as "Master of Coin."
"Elon and Zach will also maintain their respective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer," the filing concludes.
Musk, who recently lost his position as the world's richest person since Tesla's stock price plummeted in February, may be looking for a morale boost as his company's once high-flying value falls marginally. The company's shares rose over 600% in 2020, making it one of the most spectacular stock rallies of the year, as the market reacted positively to Musk's image of zero-emission cars ruling the world.
However, those figures started to fall in 2021, with Tesla's stock down almost 14% in the first two months. A fire at the company's Fremont plant last week also dragged down share prices. Furthermore, over 450 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded among Tesla employees through December 2020.
The strange title changes overshadowed a separate filing, which revealed that Jerome Guillen, president of Tesla's automotive division, "transitioned" last week to president of Tesla heavy truck.
Tesla is designing an autonomous semi-tractor truck. However, it is substantially delayed: Tesla originally stated that it will be available in 2019. Musk told investors in January that it "would not make sense" to develop the truck right now because it would take five times the number of batteries as a Tesla car - so it would not sell for five times the price. The batteries account for a sizable portion of the expense of an electric vehicle.
Though Guillen held the title of Tesla Automotive President, it was clear that Musk was the one in charge of the company's automotive operations, in addition to his position as chairman, CEO, and chief technology officer of rocket company SpaceX.
Tesla has seen rapid turnover in top executives on occasion, including a chief accounting officer who resigned with less than a month on the job after tweeting about taking the company private. However, Kirkhorn, the newly appointed Master of the Coin, has been the CFO for the past two years.
