Tesla's general counsel leaves the company after two months
Tesla's general counsel is leaving the company after just two months on the job — the latest in a series of executive departures at Elon Musk's electric car company.
Posted — UpdatedDane Butswinkas, who joined Tesla in December, will return to his legal practice at Williams & Connolly in Washington, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity over the past seven months to have worked with both Elon and Tesla, first as outside counsel and most recently as General Counsel at Tesla," Butswinkas said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing my work with Tesla in an outside counsel role."
He'll be replaced by Jonathan Chang, who previously served as Tesla's vice president of legal. Chang has worked at Tesla for almost eight years.
Butswinkas' decision to leave is because of "a poor cultural fit" at Tesla and a desire to return home to his family and law practice, a source familiar told CNN Business. Butswinkas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Frequent executive shakeups at Tesla are hurting investor confidence at a time when the car maker needs to prove it can stay profitable and keep churning out the Model 3 sedan, its most affordable car.
In January, Tesla announced the departure of its chief financial officer, Deepak Ahuja, who returned to the company for less than two years after its previous CFO unexpectedly quit.
A number of top managers left Tesla in 2018, too, including a chief accounting officer who left after less than a month.
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