Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm sold 31 250 shares of the electric vehicle maker for more than US$22-million (R316-million), according to a new regulatory filing.
Denholm, who recently testified in a Delaware court as part of a shareholder lawsuit over Tesla’s controversial 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, has served on Tesla’s board since August 2014.
She became chair in November 2018 after CEO Elon Musk was forced to relinquish the role as part of his settlement agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC agreement, announced in September 2018, required Musk to step down from the role and be replaced by an independent chair for three years.
Those three years are almost up, meaning that Musk could potentially resume the role. Tesla has yet to file its proxy for the 2021 shareholder meeting.
Denholm lives in Australia and was previously the chief financial officer at Australian telecommunications company Telstra.
The filing on Wednesday shows she exercised options to purchase the shares, paying the required strike prices, then subsequently sold the stock. All the transactions were executed on 2 August and the shares were sold at weighted average prices ranging from $700 to $726.11. — Reported by Dana Hull, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP