SolarCity co-founder Peter Rive is leaving Tesla, according to a media report.

Reuters noted SolarCity, which Tesla bought for US$2.6bn eight months ago, was founded by Rive and his younger brother Lyndon in 2006 with financial backing from their cousin and Tesla chief Elon Musk. Former SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive announced his resignation in May.

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Peter Rive will be leaving the company to explore new opportunities, a Tesla spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.

Investors were worried about the solar panel installer's debt-fueled growth but, under Tesla, its has slowed installations and focused on the most profitable projects that generate cash up front, the report added.

Rive was overseeing the development of solar roof tiles which are expected to go into production this summer.

"Peter's responsibilities, including work on Solar Roof, will be distributed among Tesla's existing engineering teams," Tesla told Reuters. 

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Earlier this week, Tesla named Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing and James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox, to its board of directors.

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