More Tesla, xAI Execs Resign—Why Leaders Keep Ditching Elon Musk

Core Insights - Leadership instability is prevalent across Musk's companies, with approximately 66% of his direct reports leaving since 2021 [1] Departures from xAI - Tony Wu's exit marks the fourth co-founder departure from xAI since its establishment in 2023, indicating a significant loss of institutional knowledge as the company competes with rivals like OpenAI and Google [2] - xAI has lost 50% of its founding team within just one year, following the departures of Christian Szegedy, Igor Babuschkin, and Greg Yang [2] Departures from Tesla - Raj Jegannathan, a 13-year veteran and VP of IT and AI Infrastructure, has left Tesla, where he was known for his crisis management skills and was recently appointed to oversee North American sales [3] Broader Trends - The departures of Wu and Jegannathan are part of a larger trend termed "Musk Exhaustion," which has reached a critical point in early 2026, suggesting that high turnover may be leading to burnout among even the most dedicated employees [4] - Musk's perspective on turnover as a means to "trim the fat" contrasts with the reality that losing 66% of leadership indicates significant challenges in management and employee retention [4]