Tesla CFO sells another $1.1M in company shares
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The sales come as Tesla continues to face increasing pressures, logging slumping profits amid a consumer backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s political activities — which reportedly prompted the EV maker’s board to begin a search process for Musk’s successor as its top executive, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Tesla denied the WSJ’s Wednesday report in a post on Musk-owned social media platform X attributed to Denholm, saying the report was “completely false” and that the board “is highly confident in [Musk’s] ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.”
“It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the @WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!” Musk wrote in his own X post Thursday , utilizing a posting style favored by President Donald Trump.
In another X post, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives noted the board “did a warning shot,” but dismissed concerns that Musk would be ousted from the EV maker.
“While this was a very tense situation, we believe Musk clearly did the right thing and we believe Musk will remain CEO for at least five years at Tesla and we would be surprised if the board was still heading down this path,” Ives wrote.
The board’s reported “warning shot” came as Tesla has continued to face brand hostility linked to Musk’s political actions related to the Department of Government Efficiency, including vandalism and arson on Tesla showrooms . The EV maker has also faced uncertainty regarding the impact of potential tariffs to be levied on the automotive industry by the Trump administration, Taneja said during the company’s most recent earnings call.
Among these headwinds, Tesla’s stock price has continued to whipsaw — falling more than 25% year to date. Tesla’s stock price has continued to wobble in recent weeks after the EV maker posted disappointing earnings on April 23, reporting a 71% year-over-year drop in net income for Q1 2025.