Tesla's board chairman makes $254m from recent sale of shares

In March, after a steep decline in Tesla's share price, Mr Elon Musk told employees: "Hang on to your stock."

- Aaron Krolik, Rebecca F. Elliott and Jack Ewing

The chair of Tesla's board, Ms Robyn Denholm, has not heeded his advice. She has made US$198 million (S$254 million) since mid-November selling Tesla stock that she earned for serving on the board.

That brings her total profit on the sale of Tesla stock to more than US$530 million since becoming the board's leader in late 2018, far more than her peers have made at the most valuable US companies during that time.

The share sales raise questions about Ms Denholm's confidence in Tesla's prospects. Her most recent sales, executed under a pre-arranged trading plan filed last summer, came as Mr Musk, the company's CEO, took a time-consuming role in the Trump administration. Tesla's car sales have plunged partly because Mr Musk's political activities have turned off some car buyers. The company's quarterly profit fell in the first three months of 2025 to its lowest level in four years.

Ms Denholm earned the right to buy those shares, known as stock options, for serving on the board, a part-time position. Tesla granted the options between 2014 and 2020, and its share price has soared since then, giving her the right to buy shares for a lot less than their current price. For example, she bought more than 112,000 shares for US$24.73 apiece and sold them the same day for more than US$270.