Tesla CFO offloads over $2M in stock as EU sales tumble

Dive Brief:

• 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.  
• 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.
• 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.

Dive Insight:

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.

The CEO’s political activities’ and their effects on the company have also led to internal dissent among Tesla employees, according to reports by Business Insider. One Tesla employee was fired after creating a website protesting Musk’s political activities, stating he was frustrated by their impact on car sales, BI reported on May 8. In another instance, a training instructor pointed to the impact of company culture during a training session with employees at Tesla’s Austin, Texas warehouse, stating many people departed the company with a “negative taste” in their mouth, according to a recording obtained by BI.

Sales, moreover, have continued to decline, especially in markets throughout Europe. Tesla sales in the European Union tumbled by 53% in April compared to the prior year period, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association in late May. Deliveries of Tesla vehicles in France, for example, plummeted by 67% in May compared to the previous year, according to a report by MarketWatch citing data from French car trade association PFA.