Fox News has confirmed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also co-founded PayPal, was not aboard the plane. The company has not released an official statement and authorities have not released the names of the victims, however, the plane belonged to senior electrical engineer Doug Bourn.
"Daniel Morales, who told KTVU he had previously flown with the pilot and was at the airport when the plane departed, identiifed him as a high-ranking official at Tesla Motors with two other of the firm's employees onboard. Authorities, however, have not released the names of the victims."
We'll continue to add details as this story develops.
Our thoughts go out to the victims families and co-workers.
Update: Tesla has provided us with a statement from CEO Elon Musk:
"Three Tesla employees were on board a plane that crashed in East Palo Alto early this morning. We are withholding their identities as we work with the relevant authorities to notify the families. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Tesla is a small, tightly-knit company, and this is a tragic day for us."