Will Tom Chu be second to Tesla, Tim Cook to Elon Musk?

Reuters He thinks he knows That Tom Zhu was going to get a major promotion within Tesla, information confirmed elsewhere by Electric. The former vice president in charge of China will now be responsible for the manufacturer’s production plants, as well as sales in North America and Europe, without losing his responsibilities in the Asia Pacific regions. So he will become Tesla’s number two, behind Elon Musk. Who is there that I think could be his own Tim Cook and replace him as CEO someday?

In the meantime, this appointment should introduce a new organization at the helm of Tesla. Elon Musk will remain directly involved in the design phase of the vehicles and in the general strategy of the manufacturer, Tom Zhu will take care of all the production and sales of the vehicles involved. A task distribution very reminiscent of the ones set by Apple during the 2000s, when Steve Jobs was still at the helm and Tim Cook at the bottom, also responsible for all the logistics.

Tom Zhu managed to maintain production at the Tesla factory in Shanghai despite all the restrictions related to the fight against the epidemic and despite the shortage of components. He could have moved with his team to the US at the end of 2022 to solve production problems at the manufacturer’s Texas plant, but it was whispered then that this corresponded to a promotion. Tesla has neither confirmed nor denied anything, but today’s two sources are reliable enough to give credit for the information.

Tesla’s Tom Chu since 2014 was born in China, but he also holds a New Zealand passport, he says Reuters. It arrived just two years after the launch of the Model S, a factory ex-factory powered exclusively by electricity. He started by creating a network of superchargers in China, before quickly climbing the ladder to take the lead in China, and then throughout the Asia Pacific region. It was on his responsibility in particular that the Shanghai factory came into existence in record time. It currently has the largest production capacity in the company and without it, Tesla would not have experienced the rapid growth in recent years.

Before joining Tesla, Tom Zhu worked at a consulting firm set up by a friend from Duke University, where he earned his MBA. If that name means something to you, it might be because this University of North Carolina also hosted a certain Tim Cook in their bleachers! The world is definitely too small…