Elon Musk’s transition from leading the Department of Government Efficiency back to his prior, civilian life, hasn’t gone especially smoothly.
Even setting aside his public fallout — and quasi-mending — with President Donald Trump, Musk’s non-governmental ventures have apparently been struggling, especially his electric vehicle company, Tesla.
And those struggles have led Musk to dismiss a longtime confidant and “fixer,” as described by the New York Post.
Omead Afshar, the now-former head of Tesla’s North American and European operations, was reportedly fired by Musk due to the company’s slumping sales in those regions.
“Afshar was long considered one of Tesla’s most powerful executives and had been promoted to oversee sales and manufacturing in the two regions last October,” the Post reported.
Forbes was the first to report on the situation and noted that Tesla’s “falling popularity” also played a role in Afshar’s ouster.
Afshar’s firing comes shortly after a reports surfaced that Tesla’s second quarter was lowlighted by a fifth straight month of declining sales in Europe — though that’s hardly the only issue.
U.S. sales are also down, which tracks with many of the anti-DOGE protests that erupted while Musk was a card-carrying member of Trump’s Cabinet.
In fact, Musk’s work was so unpopular with Democrats and the left that many resorted to terroristic arson attacks on various Tesla dealerships, which likely didn’t help slumping sales.
Do you think Musk will re-enter politics at some point?
Perhaps most ominously for Tesla — though seemingly out of Afshar’s purview — the EV company also saw sales in China, its most robust market, slump 15 percent in May.
The combination of these factors has experts forecasting a 10 percent decline in Tesla’s overall deliveries.
Afshar, who had previously reported directly to Musk, first hired into Tesla as an engineer in 2017.
He “quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the mogul’s most trusted lieutenants, playing a central role in major projects including the construction of the Texas Gigafactory,” according to the Post.
The Post also reported that while the exact timing of Afshar’s firing isn’t known, there had apparently been internal discussions about such a move for some time now.
While the timing may be unknown, based on Afshar’s social media posting to the Musk-owned X, he was on positive terms with the company as recently as Tuesday.
In only a couple days of riding… https://t.co/bprXntmrdy
— Omead Afshar (@omead) June 24, 2025
And just a day before that post, Afshar took to social media to gush about the man who would apparently go on to fire him.
Absolutely historic day for Tesla.
This has been *years* of hard work and focus by so many people within the company.
Thank you, Elon, for pushing us all! https://t.co/2FPKU77ZOo
— Omead Afshar (@omead) June 23, 2025
“Absolutely historic day for Tesla,” Afshar posted, quoting Musk’s post celebrating Tesla’s Robotaxi launch.
“This has been *years* of hard work and focus by so many people within the company. Thank you, Elon, for pushing us all!”
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