Tesla’s top lawyer leaves two months into the job
Dane Butswinkas is the latest among the dozens of high-profile executives to leave Tesla over the past two years
Bengaluru — Tesla said on Wednesday its general counsel Dane Butswinkas is leaving the electric carmaker just two months into the job, the latest in a string of top-level departures at the company. Butswinkas, who joined Tesla in December and was reporting to CEO Elon Musk, will return to his previous role as the company's outside counsel at law firm Williams & Connolly. Jonathan Chang, Tesla's vice-president of legal department, will replace Butswinkas effective immediately, the company said. Before joining Tesla in 2011, Chang was its outside counsel at law firm Latham & Watkins. Tesla hired Butswinkas as an outside counsel in 2018 to help settle a case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission after Musk tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share.
Musk later settled the charges with the US regulator by agreeing to pay a $20m fine and relinquishing his position as Tesla's chairman for three years. Butswinkas is the latest among the dozens ...
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