Tesla burning through execs like cash

Tesla's troubles keeping executives are well known, and a Wall Street analyst says the turnover rate is especially high among employees who report directly to CEO Elon Musk.

About 44 percent of Musk's direct reports have changed over annually, Bloomberg reported last week, citing an analysis by Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein. That compares with about 9 percent on average for direct reports to CEOs at other major tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Amazon and Facebook.

A list compiled by Business Insider this month names 32 executives who have left Tesla since January 2018.

Overall executive turnover at Tesla is about 27 percent annually, the highest among seven companies to which Sacconaghi compared the automaker.

"While one could argue that [Tesla's] high turnover reflects its unique and demanding culture, we worry that such turnover not only causes instability but could also reflect more significant concerns among senior leaders about the company's direction or workplace practices," Sacconaghi wrote.

He calculated that, if the trend continues, all of the more than 150 people in the company's executive ranks will be gone within four years.