Tesla says Chief Accounting Officer Branderiz left for personal reasons

Tesla Chief Accounting Officer Eric Branderiz has left the company for personal reasons, according to an SEC filing on Thursday.

Branderiz, who joined Tesla as chief accounting officer and corporate controller in 2016 while the company was in the midst of a controversial $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity, could not immediately be reached for comment.

This is the entirety of Tesla's statement in the filing: "On March 7, 2018, Eric Branderiz left Tesla for personal reasons. Tesla appreciates Eric's service to the company."

Prior to his tenure at Tesla, Branderiz was a senior vice president and chief accounting officer at solar energy installer SunPower (now owned by Total S.A.).

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is credited with co-founding SolarCity alongside former CEO Lyndon Rive, who is Musk's first cousin. Musk was the largest shareholder in both companies prior to the acquisition, which was criticized by some investors as a conflict-ridden bailout.

In October 2017, sweeping dismissals at Tesla hit SolarCity employees particularly hard. Many of those who joined Tesla through the acquisition said they were never given a performance review before being fired.

Tesla has recently ceded ground to competitor SunRun in the residential solar market. Overall, it has also experienced a 57 percent decline in solar installations over the past six quarters.

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