xAI’s internal compass seems to be spinning. Mike Liberatore, the company’s chief financial officer, has left after just three months on the job, yet another high-ranking exec walking away from Elon Musk’s AI venture.
xAI’s CFO departure raises more questions
Liberatore joined xAI in April and was gone by late July, according to The Wall Street Journal. A short stint by any measure, especially for someone brought in to help lead major funding rounds and infrastructure efforts.
During his time at xAI, Liberatore helped secure a massive $10 billion in combined debt and equity. Nearly half of that haul came from SpaceX. He also played a key role in expanding the firm’s data center footprint, including work on a site in Memphis.
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Executive exits piling up at xAI
Liberatore isn’t the only one making for the door. He joins a growing exodus of key players who’ve left the AI firm in recent months:
- Robert Keele, xAI’s general counsel, left in August after just over a year
- Raghu Rao, a senior legal figure, exited around the same time
- Igor Babuschkin, co-founder of xAI, left to start a VC fund focused on AI safety
- Linda Yaccarino, former X CEO, resigned in July following backlash tied to xAI’s chatbot Grok
It’s a surprising amount of churn for a company still in its early stages.
xAI’s CFO loss highlights deeper instability
Losing a CFO is rarely just an HR hiccup. It often signals friction behind closed doors, strategic misalignments, internal power shifts, or mismatched expectations.
For xAI, a startup fueled by Musk’s ambitions and a whirlwind of funding, this kind of turnover doesn’t exactly scream steady leadership.
As investors and insiders watch closely, the departures paint a picture of a company still searching for a solid footing. The work is ambitious. But the team building keeps changing.
Fast cash. Faster exits. For xAI, the speed might be catching up.
