ALBAWABA — Elon Musk’s right hand man, Tom Zhu Xiaotong, is rumored to be Musk’s possible successor as the global CEO at the electric vehicle company.
Chinese news outlet PingWest stated in December that Tesla’s intended to promote Zhu to global CEO.
On Jan. 3, Reuters reported that Zhu was promoted to take direct oversight of Tesla's U.S. assembly plants as well as sales operations in North America and Europe, citing an internal posting of reporting lines reviewed by the news organization.
Zhu also retained his position of vice president for Greater China and as the most senior executive for sales in the rest of Asia.
The move makes Zhu the highest-profile executive at Tesla after Musk.
Late last year, Zhu was brought in with his team to troubleshoot production issues in the U.S., driving expectations among his colleagues at the time that he was being groomed for a bigger role.
Zhu’s appointment to a global role comes at a time when Musk has been distracted by his acquisition of Twitter and Tesla analysts and investors urge action.
Under Zhu, Tesla’s Shanghai plant rebounded strongly from COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
Tesla fell short of Wall Street estimates delivering 405,278 vehicles in the fourth quarter as opposed to 308,600 vehicles in the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.
