Two Tesla board members close to Elon Musk, Ira Ehrenpreis and Kimbal Musk, just sold almost $200 million worth of Tesla (TSLA) stocks.
Tesla board members are known for their generous stock compensation and for quickly selling it when it vests.
They settled a lawsuit brought by shareholders who alleged they were overcompensated, and they agreed to return nearly $1 billion in compensation.
Even with returning the excessive compensation, Tesla’s chairwoman is by far the best-compensated board member of any major public company.
Lately, she has been liquidating her stocks in Tesla and she is not the only board member selling.
Last night, Tesla reported that Ira Ehrenpreis, a longtime friend and financier of Tesla CEO Elon Musk who sits on the automaker’s board, sold 477,572 shares worth over $162 million.
Ehrenpreis’ term on the board ends this year. He has been on the board for almost 20 years. He was, and still is, on the compensation committee that granted Musk’s controversial 2018 CEO compensation plan worth $55 billion.
Along with Ehrenpreis, Tesla also disclosed that Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother and longtime Tesla board member, sold 91,588 shares worth more than $32 million.
Electrek’s Take
Isn’t it strange that the board would sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stocks just weeks and months ahead of launching an autonomous ride-hailing service, which is supposed to usher in a new era of growth for Tesla?
Top comment by Jack stein
The truth will be told shortly when Tesla fails to file with the department of transportation in Austin how they plan to run their robo taxis. This was the second notice that department of transportation has sent the company and no reply has been sent. Tesla cannot put on the streets. Any robo taxis unless they file this notice with department of transportation.
It’s almost as if they don’t even believe it.
And yes, it’s true that some of those sales by board members were made under previously adopted plans, but these plans are opaque and we don’t know what leeway board members have within the plans.
But we do know, in the case of Ehrenpreis, that his plan was adopted just a few months ago in December when Tesla’s stock surged following Trump’s election. It looks like he was looking for a way out, and he likes the current level.
I think the board knows that Tesla is facing incredible liability over its failed promises on self-driving and that the rollout in Austin next month is more for show than anything.
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