Tesla Motors Completes CEO Search
November 28, 2007
A Message from Elon Musk, Chairman of Tesla Motors:
For the past several months, the board of Tesla Motors has been engaged in a search
for the right person to lead the company through its next phase of growth. During
the search, we met with many candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, including
both the automotive and high-tech sectors.
Given what Tesla needs to accomplish,
the ideal CEO is someone that understands the automotive sector, but also has a
proven entrepreneurial and high-tech track record. Advancing our leading electric
drivetrain technology is critical, but, above all, the Tesla CEO must be someone
who will ensure that the products we deliver to customers are outstanding.
To that end, it is with great pleasure that I announce that Ze’ev Drori will
become CEO of Tesla Motors, effective December 3rd.
Ze'ev is a successful
high-tech entrepreneur and an experienced chief executive with the proven ability
to create and manage companies with innovative products in both the high-tech and
automotive sectors. He has more than 30 years of continual success and has demonstrated
the ability to lead a company from conception to profitability, a public offering
and thousands of employees.
The first company he founded was Monolithic
Memories, a Silicon Valley semiconductor firm that pioneered fundamental advances
in memory and logic technology, before being acquired by AMD in 1987. Under his
leadership, Monolithic introduced programmable read-only memory (PROM) and programmable
array logic (PAL), which revolutionized many aspects of computer and electronic
systems technology. As CEO through 1981, Ze’ev was responsible for R&D, manufacturing,
marketing, finance, world wide sales and overseas operations for product assembly.
Ze’ev served as chairman of the board from 1981 through 1987.
After the sale
of Monolithic Memories, Ze’ev purchased a controlling interest in Clifford Electronics,
then a small start-up in auto security systems and the perfect combination of his
twin passions for technology and automobiles. As chairman and CEO, he rapidly developed
Clifford into the world’s leading automobile security company through significant
innovations, such as remote control alarms, and distribution relationships with
domestic and international car manufacturers as well as a network of thousands of
retail dealers. In 1999, Ze’ev sold Clifford Electronics to Allstate Insurance.
I would like to thank Michael Marks for his leadership of Tesla Motors as interim
CEO for the last few months. Michael’s experience with manufacturing and logistics
has been very valuable for the company as it prepares to enter production of the
Tesla Roadster. As an investor and customer, Michael will continue to be involved
in Tesla.
- Elon Musk