Former Tesla CFO Deepak Ahuja joins Redwood Materials as battery recycler pivots to AI energy infrastructure

"Deepak Ahuja, the chief financial officer who took Tesla public in 2010 and served two terms steering its finances through the most volatile period in automotive history, has joined Redwood Materials as CFO. He told TechCrunch it is "too early" to talk about an IPO. Companies that are not thinking about an IPO do not hire the man who took Tesla public."

"Ahuja arrives at a company that has changed since its founding. JB Straubel, Tesla's co-founder and former chief technology officer, started Redwood Materials in 2017 to recycle lithium-ion batteries and recover the critical minerals inside them. The company still does that. It processes more than 20 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually and holds roughly 70 per cent of the US battery recycling market."

"But the business Ahuja is joining is no longer primarily a recycler. It is becoming an energy infrastructure company that powers AI data centres with the batteries that electric vehicles leave behind. Redwood Energy is the division that turns second-life EV batteries into power for AI data centres, using the recovered battery supply chain."

""Knowing JB for the last 18 years, I have huge respect for him as a leader, an engineer and as a thinker," Ahuja said. The relationship is the reason he took the job. But the timing is the reason it matters. Ahuja is not joining a battery recycling startup. He is joining a company that just restructured its leadership, cut i"

Deepak Ahuja, former Tesla CFO, joined Redwood Materials as chief financial officer. His hiring follows his role in taking Tesla public and his experience steering finances through volatile automotive conditions. Redwood Materials processes more than 20 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries annually and holds about 70% of the US battery recycling market. The company is shifting its focus from primarily recycling to becoming an energy infrastructure provider. Redwood Energy uses second-life electric vehicle batteries to power AI data centers. Ahuja said it is too early to discuss an IPO, while the leadership move suggests preparation for public-market activity.

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