Tesla Board Members Sell Almost $200 Million in Stocks Ahead of Robotaxi Launch
Two Tesla board members close to Elon Musk, Ira Ehrenpreis and Kimbal Musk, recently offloaded nearly $200 million worth of Tesla (TSLA) stocks. This move raises eyebrows, especially as the company is gearing up to launch its highly anticipated autonomous ride-hailing service.
Tesla board members have a history of receiving generous stock compensation and quickly selling it off once it vests. In fact, they recently settled a lawsuit brought by shareholders who claimed they were overcompensated, agreeing to return nearly $1 billion in compensation. Despite this, Tesla’s chairwoman remains the highest-compensated board member of any major public company.
In the latest development, Ira Ehrenpreis, a longtime friend and financier of Elon Musk who has been on Tesla’s board for almost 20 years, sold 477,572 shares worth over $162 million. Ehrenpreis, who sits on the compensation committee that granted Musk’s controversial $55 billion CEO compensation plan in 2018, is set to end his term on the board this year.
Additionally, Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother and another longtime Tesla board member, sold 91,588 shares worth more than $32 million. The timing of these stock sales is particularly noteworthy, considering Tesla’s upcoming launch of its autonomous ride-hailing service, which is expected to drive significant growth for the company.
Some observers find it suspicious that board members are unloading large amounts of stock just ahead of a major milestone like the Robotaxi launch. This raises questions about their confidence in the success of the new service. While some of these sales were made under previously adopted plans, the opacity surrounding these plans leaves room for speculation about the board members’ motivations.
It’s worth noting that Ehrenpreis adopted his stock sale plan just a few months ago in December, coinciding with a surge in Tesla’s stock price following Trump’s election. This suggests that he may have been looking for an exit strategy and deemed the current stock price as favorable for selling.
Overall, the board’s actions hint at underlying concerns about Tesla’s liability over its self-driving promises and the true feasibility of the upcoming Robotaxi rollout in Austin next month. Despite the hype surrounding the autonomous ride-hailing service, it appears that some key stakeholders within Tesla may not share the same level of optimism.
