Grace Noto
3 min read
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This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter.
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Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja made two sales of company stock this week in his latest offloading of company shares, selling approximately $2 million on June 2 before selling $342,690 in shares on June 3, according to company filings.
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The sales — Taneja’s fourth and fifth sales over a three-month period, according to company filings — come as the Austin, Texas-electric vehicle maker’s brand continues to field reputational impact from CEO Elon Musk’s political activities, as well as slumping sales in key markets such as Europe.
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Musk, who officially departed from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency on Friday, has previously sought to reassure Tesla investors of the company’s financial health, announcing his intent to remain as CEO for the next five years during a recent conference in Qatar, according to reports by the BBC.
Taneja’s June sales follow the CFO’s offloading of over $3 million in shares last month, CFO Dive reported. His repeated sales of stock come after the finance chief, who took the top financial seat at Tesla in 2023, received a pay package worth $139 million comprised mainly of stock last year, CFO Dive reported.
Taneja’s full-year 2024 compensation included an equity award of approximately $113 million in stock options and approximately $26 million in stock awards, with Taneja the only named executive to receive an equity award last year, according to Tesla’s annual report.
Along with Taneja, other executives have offloaded company stock in recent weeks; Kimbal Musk, the brother of CEO Elon Musk, sold $31 million in shares on May 27, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The sales come as Tesla’s stock price has continued to whipsaw over the past few months, impacted by a consumer backlash related to Elon Musk’s continued connection with the Trump administration. The EV maker’s stock slumped by approximately 10% Wednesday after Musk clashed with President Donald Trump Tuesday on the “Big beautiful bill” currently making its way through Congress — calling the tax and spending bill a “disgusting abomination” on the social platform X, which he owns.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” Musk tweeted Tuesday.
The clash comes after Musk sought to reassure investors during the company’s most recent earnings call after Tesla reported a 71% drop in net profit, noting he would be stepping back from his role at DOGE and promising to refocus his attention on the EV maker.
