The Empire Unravels: Loyal Veterans Are Leaving, Leaving Elon Musk a Lonely King on the Throne
In a company once defined by visionary leadership and fierce loyalty, the silence of departure is now deafening. At Tesla, one of the most iconic brands of the 21st century, something is shifting. Those who stood beside Elon Musk through the company’s meteoric rise—who built, designed, engineered, and defended the Tesla dream—are quietly walking away.From long-time engineers to founding designers and political strategists, the inner circle of Musk’s empire is crumbling. The message is becoming harder to ignore: the king still sits on the throne, but he’s more alone than ever.
Since 2017, he led the teams that kept Tesla’s software experience seamless and responsive. He helped turn cars into computers on wheels. His departure alone would be a major loss. But it wasn’t just a quiet resignation—it came with a sting. “Elon Musk should get out of Tesla.”That’s what Lau allegedly said on his way out, according to sources close to the situation. And in a company where loyalty to Musk has often felt like an unspoken rule, this was a declaration of protest.Only weeks before Lau’s dramatic exit, Tesla lost two of its most influential design minds: David Imai and Bernard Lee.Imai, who had spent nearly 14 years at Tesla and held the position of Director of Design for the last five, was responsible for shaping the visual language of the Model 3—the car that brought Tesla to the masses. His work helped define what a “Tesla” looked and felt like.But two weeks ago, Imai left it all behind for a position at a boat design studio, ending more than a decade of crafting futuristic road-bound machines. It was a calm exit—but symbolic. The man who once helped lead Tesla’s most accessible product was now choosing to design boats.
More alarming, though, was the departure of Bernard Lee, a name revered inside Tesla’s earliest creative rooms. Lee joined Tesla in 2008, coming from Mazda, and was a founding member of Tesla’s internal design studio. He was involved in every major vehicle since the Tesla Roadster, playing key roles either as lead or supporting designer.The one design he notably didn’t contribute to? The Cybertruck—a vehicle that split opinions and signaled a creative divergence inside Tesla. For many observers, Lee’s absence from the Cybertruck and his eventual departure felt connected. When one of the original architects of Tesla’s identity chooses to walk away, it’s not just personal—it’s institutional.But this unraveling of Tesla’s leadership didn’t start with designers. Months before the design team began to thin out, Tesla’s strategic and engineering infrastructure was already being dismantled from within.In the spring of last year, Drew Baglino, Tesla’s Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, resigned. Baglino was no ordinary executive—he was widely considered one of Musk’s closest engineering allies. His role was central to Tesla’s energy innovations, and he often stood beside Musk during public presentations.
