Lyndon Rive, Former SolarCity CEO, To Leave Tesla

(RTTNews) - Lyndon Rive, the former chief executive officer of SolarCity and first cousin of Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, will step down from the electric automaker next month, saying he plans to start another venture.

Tesla acquired SolarCity in November for $2 billion. Rive's departure comes as Tesla prepares to launch the Model 3, its more affordable electric sedan, in July. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla has several products in the pipeline, including a solar roof that Musk first unveiled last fall.

"Lyndon Rive co-founded SolarCity 11 years ago, and built it into the No. 1 solar provider in the nation," said Tesla in a statement. "Thanks in large part to the foundation Lyndon helped create, Tesla has now built the world's first integrated sustainable energy company, from generation to storage to transportation."