Who is Tom Zhu, Tesla’s “Tim Cook”

“My name is Tom ZhuI am now responsible for global production, sales and shipping. I joined the company in 2014 and was responsible for the Greater China and Asia Pacific business. Today I’m representing all Gigafactories to talk about how we can produce more cars faster.”. so it was presented Zhu Xiaotong go on stage during Investor Day – 2023 from Tesla.

There, among other things, it was officially announced that the next Gigafactory of the company led by Elon Musk will be located in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

But Tom Zhu not just any performer inside this gigantic machine that has revolutionized electric mobility around the world called Tesla. In nearly 9 years with the company, he has managed to position himself as a fundamental part of the expansion plans spearheaded by Elon Musk. To the point of becoming the main side of the magnate – one might say, his right hand – but at the same time without giving up either his modesty in the company or his unknown status outside of it.

If we draw a parallel, Tom Zhu is to Elon Musk what Tim Cook was to Steve Jobs at Apple at the time.. It’s the easiest way to highlight the importance of this Chinese executive in charge of Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory, which today is a monster capable of producing around 20,000 electric vehicles a week.

“Building more factories is the starting point for producing more cars, and we are certainly experts in this,” Zhu boasted during Investor Day 2023. His words were accompanied by a more than eloquent image: before and after the construction of the Gigafactory in Shanghai . How much time has passed between the two images? Only 9 and a half months.

Tom Zhu explained that in order to quickly build factories, it is necessary to bet on the most linear strategy. It requires challenge the ideas of the traditional automotive industry and I bet that all – or almost all – work is done on their own equipment. He also mentioned the possibility of increasing the production of cars within the existing infrastructure, while new plants are being built around the world.

It becomes clear that Xiaotong’s strategy is working perfectly. The chief executive announced that Tesla reached the milestone of 4 million electric vehicles produced, with an impressive evolution over time of production. “It took us 12 years to build our first million cars and another 18 months to reach our second million. Eleven months later we got our third million and in less than 7 months we hit our fourth million. So we’re getting better and faster.”

Tom Zhu, key to Tesla’s success

But Tom Zhu’s start at Tesla was a far cry from the electric car production line. When the leader came to the company, his first assignment was to help develop and expand the fledgling Supercharger network.. However, his ascent to more important positions in the company was swift. By the end of his first year on the job, he was already COO in China.

It is obvious that Elon Musk saw in Zhu Xiaotong an ally to whom he could entrust the main responsibilities of his expansion in the Asian giant. In fact, in January 2019, he was one of those who accompanied the mogul during the launch ceremony of the Gigafactory in Shanghai. By the end of the year, the manager was promoted to the position Tesla China President and Global Vice President.

Responsibilities Tom Zhu in Tesla increased again in July 2022. At that time, the company restructured his management positions and appointed him head of the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to this, sales oversight for territories such as Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong was the responsibility of an executive based in the United States.

Despite rising prominence within the electric vehicle company, Tom Zhu continued to be virtually unknown outside the company. His public appearances in recent years have been rare, and the few interviews he has given have been given to the Chinese media. Therefore, there is nothing illogical in the fact that it is not represented in the West.

It was only at the beginning of this year that his name began to make more noise in this part of the world. In the early days of January, it was announced that Tom Zhu would take over the supervision of Tesla’s assembly plants in the United States and that he would also take on the challenge as Sales Manager for North America and Europe. All this while maintaining its commitment to the brand in the main Asian markets.

In fact, the hype surrounding his new promotion has given rise to rumors that could succeed Elon Musk as Tesla CEO. A possibility that didn’t seem unreasonable at the time, given the current CEO’s “distractions” on Twitter.

His meteoric rise

Tom Zhu’s low profile makes it difficult to accurately recount his pre-Tesla career. bloomberg claims that although he was born in China, He also has a New Zealand passport.. This is due to the fact that he was a student, earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Information Technology from Auckland Technological University. Although part of his university life was also spent in the United States, where he received an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Before joining Tesla, Tom Zhu served in Kaibo International, a construction project management firm. At that company, he held various positions – almost anticipating his future at Tesla – and worked as a consultant on projects in Asia, Africa and Oceania.

“Personally, I feel that I am a resilient person. No matter how difficult the project is, I am determined to complete it. […] In addition to leading a team, it is also important to provide enough space for that team to develop. Space for development and space for advancement are different. Both my previous and current Tesla teams agree that we don’t really care about job titles, but we appreciate whether each person can make an impact or not,” he said in an interview with Fuqua Business School.

That tenacity led him to take on a key role at Tesla in China in 2014, when the company made headlines for unintended reasons. By the time the exit Veronica Wu as head of operations, she made a splash. executive came from Apple with great fanfare and resigned just 9 months after taking office.

At the time, Tesla was far from where it is today and had difficult moments. On the one hand, he had problems importing the Model S, which caused delays in deliveries. In addition, customs duties have made her cars significantly more expensive in China than in the United States, and there has been much controversy over the availability of charging points outside major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

But not only that: at the time, users were banned from driving their electric vehicles in Beijing during peak hours. Tom Zhu is considered one of the main culprits behind the lifting of the restriction in 2015., which also leads to the exponential growth of the Tesla charger network in a short time. By 2016, Elon Musk’s company had delivered more than 11,000 vehicles to the Asian giant, generating more than $1 billion in revenue.

Ruthless work ethic, as Elon Musk loves

During his time as Tesla’s main face in China, Tom Zhu developed a reputation as a “workaholic” and stood out with his constant presence on the Gigafactory production line in Shanghai. Accessible and prompt, his attitude set an example more than once. Employees of the company said that in 2019, when the factory was just built, a strong storm with rain led to roof flooding due to a breakdown in the drainage system. To prevent the structure from collapsing, Zhu and about 30 other employees climbed up with plastic buckets to try and drain the water from the flood.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tesla was one of many companies hit by the sanitary blockade imposed by the Xi Jinping government. Despite several setbacks, Gigafactory Shanghai managed to resume production thanks to the implementation of a bubble system that forced employees to sleep inside the factory. Tom Zhu was no exception and also stayed to live at the Tesla facilities to closely monitor the work aimed at restoring production lost due to shutdowns.

In an interview with Chinese media PC Auto in 2021, Tom Zhu commented that his workday usually started at 6am to keep in touch with teams in the US despite the time difference. At the time, the manager indicated that he lived in a three-room apartment located just 10 minutes from the plant, and that used to share a car ride to a site with other workers who lived in the same place.

“In our company, most things are done by hand. You must get your hands dirty. About the problems that we have in markets across the country, I try to find out as soon as possible, ”he said then. In addition, he threw a rather peculiar concept of his contact with Elon Musk:

“I think he doesn’t want me to tell him about my work. In fact, he expects us to be a channel of communication and a bridge for him to understand our business progress in China. So we keep in touch very often; although not only I can communicate with Elon. In fact, all our employees can do it. If you happen to walk up to any worker in this plant and ask him how to contact Elon Musk, he will answer you.”

Will Tom Zhu be the next Tesla CEO?

Today, Tom Zhu appears to be a few steps ahead of other Tesla executives to become Elon Musk’s hypothetical successor. Although no one dares to predict when such a change in behavior might occur, if it ever happenstransparent.

But with his responsibilities as a global manufacturing leader and sales leader in Europe and North America, it’s not unreasonable to think he’s closer than ever to the CEO chair. Apart from the assumptions, it is clear that Elon Musk found his own Tim Cook in Tom Zhu.