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Comment by revel | Hacker News Reader

The CFO leaving is always a big deal. It can mean nothing but it can also mean a really spectacular blowup is about to take place.

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Exactly. Since CFOs are in charge of the numbers and can be legally on the hook for them [1], their departure always gets people to perk up a bit. Even if there isn't crime involved, when they guy who knows the financials best decides he'd rather be elsewhere, it can be a sign that there's a coming plateau or downturn.

That's especially interesting in the case of Tesla, whose stock is down something like 40% from peak, and who is facing increasingly stiff competition from basically every automaker in the world.

[1] e.g., "fraud by negligence": https://www.reuters.com/business/sec-charges-smart-window-ma...

It's always a big deal, but can also mean nothing? So, pure speculation?

The vast majority of the time it’s a big deal, which makes it newsworthy. As well, any well run company would announce at least a few quarters in advance that the CFO is leaving.

They don’t abruptly quit or get fired after 13 years without something brewing

With respect, I do not think this is a newsworthy case.

> Mr. Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year to support a seamless transition.

Absolutely zero things to discuss here.

This isn’t the own you think it is. C-level execs are often contractually obliged to serve out lengthy notice periods, a quarter and some change is nothing unusual.

You must be new here. Many companies keep ex-C-levels nominally employed as 'consultants' so their stock can vest (which is typically the bulk of their compensation) and avoid any expensive/public lawsuits. It's paying them off to quietly go away without spending any cash.

Actually the vast majority of the time it's not at all a big deal. The average tenure of a CFO among the S&P 500 is 3.5 years. It's really not a big deal.

Care to make a wager?

Yes, this thread is obviously speculation. That's the purpose of it.

That is just flat out factually wrong. CFO just like ever other position sometimes switch jobs.

That seems like a contradiction. How can something always be a big deal if it can mean nothing?

E.g. The fire alarm going off is always a big deal even if there is not always a fire.

Interesting, almost every case I know of where a fire alarm has gone off, no one really cared. I even remember a fire alarm going off in an actual movie theater and no one budged.

I'm going to maintain my position that a precondition for something always being a big deal is that it must always be meaningful. Fire alarms are sometimes a big deal, but sometimes they are just noise. I think the CFO of Tesla stepping down is also just noise as well, but you are welcome to think otherwise.

13 years is a long tenure as CFO, on surface this means nothing.

I think it's 13 years at Tesla, 4 years as CFO.

Got it. Still not a red flag though. CFO tenure is rather low. This thread points out more so how Musk has become a villain in the tech sphere and people are looking for reasons to vilify him and anything he’s associated with.

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