Short Tenure

Tesla’s Top Lawyers Keep Leaving

This was the third one they lost in 2019.
Tesla's general counsel, Jonathan Chang, left the company last week. That makes three lawyers and 16 executives to leave Tesla this year.
Image: Tesla/Victor Tangermann

Revolving Door

Tesla just lost its top lawyer for the third time in 2019 alone.

Jonathan Chang, the company’s general counsel, left the company last Friday, according to Bloomberg. Now, Chang will take the same position at the artificial intelligence company SambaNova Systems, bookending a tumultuous year of high-profile employees deciding to leave the electric car company.

Turbulent Tenure

Chang held the position during not only the SEC’s investigation into CEO Elon Musk, but also Walmart’s lawsuit against the company in which it was accused of selling hazardous solar panels.

In January, then general counsel Todd Maron left Tesla, Business Insider reports. His successor Dane Butswinkas also left this year, according to the same report, and in addition Tesla lost 13 other executives this year.

Tough Job

The fact that Tesla’s legal department has a high turnover rate isn’t all that shocking, given Musk’s tendency to get sued or otherwise challenged in legal affairs.

It’s a reasonable bet that moving forward, the cases that Chang handles will at least be a little bit less ridiculous.

READ MORE: Tesla Loses Its Third General Counsel in the Course of a Year [Bloomberg]

More on Elon Musk: Tesla Slammed by Another Autopilot Crash Lawsuit

Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.