Zachary Kirkhorn is the chief financial officer for electric car manufacturer, Tesla, a role he has held since March 2019.
He has been with the company in a variety of finance positions since March 2010, with a brief hiatus between 2011 and 2013 while he attended Harvard for his M.B.A.
Kirkhorn’s career trajectory accelerated quickly. While working on his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Kirkhorn held two internships with Microsoft, first as a financial analyst intern and then as a program manager intern. After finishing his degree in 2006, Kirkhorn spent almost three years at McKinsey & Company as a senior business analyst.
Still in his mid-twenties, Kirkhorn joined Tesla as a senior financial analyst. In his various roles, he worked on planning and execution for major programs, such as the original Roadster. He also led finance for contract negotiations and site selection regarding the company’s first Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada, handled the deal structure for its battery manufacturing partnership with Panasonic, and managed capital planning for the Model 3 program in the U.S. and China.
He took over the CFO role at just 34, making him one of the youngest CFOs at a major U.S. company. In the role, he leads accounting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, mergers and acquisitions, taxes, investor relations and internal audit.
Kirkhorn holds B.S.E. degrees in economics, mechanical engineering, and applied mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania, and he earned his M.B.A. at Harvard.
