xAI’s chief financial officer departs amid leadership exodus

xAI’s chief financial officer has exited the company, marking the latest senior departure from Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence firm. 

Mike Liberatore, a former Airbnb executive who joined as CFO in April, left in late July, according to people familiar with the matter.

He played a key role in fundraising, including a $5 billion debt sale backed by Morgan Stanley and a $5 billion equity raise in which SpaceX contributed nearly half—a rare outside investment for the space firm.

Liberatore also oversaw xAI’s data-center expansion in Memphis, Tennessee. 

His departure follows exits by general counsel Robert Keele, senior lawyer Raghu Rao, and co-founder Igor Babuschkin, underscoring instability at xAI as its chatbot Grok faces public malfunctions and mounting scrutiny.