Tom Zhu…Who? All You Need To Know About The 'Tim Cook' Of Tesla

Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s preoccupation with Twitter ever since he took over the platform in October 2022 has worried investors to no end. 

What Happened: Sensing trouble, buy-side firms began calling for a succession plan. It was against this backdrop that Tesla China head Tom Zhu cropped up as a potential successor.

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Timeline of Zhu’s rise to prominence:

• Early 2014: Joined Tesla to help build the company’s Supercharger network; subsequently served the company as VP of Asia-Pacific and Gigafactory 3 and as vice president, Greater China.
• December 2022: Zhu came to Tesla’s Giga Austin along with some of his engineering team members to oversee the ramp-up of the Giga Austin factory. Zhu was relieved of the position as the legal representative of Tesla Shanghai and was replaced by Wang Hao, effective December 2022, reported CnEVPost, citing data provider Qichacha.
• Jan. 3, 2023: Zhu took over the responsibility of overseeing the company’s assembly plants in Europe and North America, a Reuters report said, citing an internal company posting.
• March 1, 2023. Tesla’s Investor Day held this week brought Zhu to the spotlight again. He introduced himself as being in charge of global production, sales delivery and service, and represented all of the company’s Gigafactories.

Zhu’s responsibilities make him the second-in-command at Tesla, next only to Musk. At the Investor Day event, he was seen offering views on several issues, including the geopolitical risks the company faces in China. He shrugged off demand concerns in China — Tesla’s key market. “As long as you offer a product with value at an affordable price, you don’t have to worry about demand," he said.

He was cited by Nuevo León Governor that the Gigafactory Tesla plans to build near Monterrey in the state would come up faster than the record nine months Giga Shanghai took for commissioning.

Giga Shanghai Under Zhu: Tesla’s China factory was completed in a record nine months, from the start of construction to delivery of the first vehicle, under the supervision of Zhu. Made-in-China, or MIC, cars accounted for 710,865 of Tesla’s total global sales of 1.313 million in 2022. Even amid the COVID-19 disruptions that marred production in 2022, Tesla recovered, thanks to its closed-looped production strategy, with the ramp back to normalcy happening in double-quick time.

China is also important for China from the margin perspective, as the MIC cars are cheaper than those produced by Gigafactories elsewhere. Tim Vs. Tom: Given his low-profile yet efficient functioning, Tesla investors have begun calling him “Tim Cook” of Tesla.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs named insider Cook, who was then serving as the chief operating officer, as the CEO of the company in August 2011. Incidentally, Jobs succumbed to his pancreatic cancer in October of the same year. Cook, who was till then an under-the-radar operator, has successfully run the company and grown it to be the most valued company.

Tom Zhu is the Tim Cook of Tesla pic.twitter.com/mIXHAlGxf2

— Big Tesla (@hikingskiing) January 3, 2023

Information gleaned from Office Board.com shows that Zhu has a Bachelor of Commerce In Information Technology from the Auckland University of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the Duke University - Fuqua School Of Business, North Carolina. Incidentally, Cook is also an alumnus of the same business school.

Zhu carries a New Zealand passport.

Calling Tesla’s Investor Day a showcase event for Musk and the Tesla community, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said Zhu is “clearly being highlighted as playing a major role in the success of Tesla going forward in China and globally.” Fund manager Ross Gerber tweeted, “Looks like we found out who is second in command for production. Tom Zhu is now head of global production.”

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