Tesla chair scored big on well-timed sell during stock’s post-election blip

Tesla Inc. Chair Robyn Denholm cashed in from a well-timed sale of shares this month, reaping more than $35 million from stock that soared after the U.S. election.

Denholm exercised 112,390 stock options that were set to expire next year and sold the shares on Friday, according to a regulatory filing. She prearranged the transactions in July through a trading plan that U.S. company insiders can use to sell stock.

Taking the exercise cost into account, Denholm netted about $32.5 million from the stock sale.

Tesla has been one of the best-performing companies in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, with investors betting Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk will benefit from having been one of the president-elect’s biggest backers. The carmaker’s shares have climbed 38% since Election Day, adding more than $300 billion to the company’s market capitalization.

Denholm replaced Musk as Tesla’s chair in November 2018 as part of agreements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk and Tesla reached settlements with the agency to resolve securities fraud charges brought after the CEO claimed in August 2018 to have secured funding to take the company private.