Tesla's board chair has now sold stock worth more than half-a-billion

Robyn Denholm, the chair of Tesla’s (TSLA-3.33%) board of directors, sold nearly $200 million worth of Tesla stock in the past six months, per an New York Times analysis of recent SEC filings.

That brings Denholm’s total proceeds from Tesla stock sales to more than half a billion dollars since taking over as board chair in 2018 — head and shoulders above her counterparts at other major U.S. companies during the same period.

The sales were executed under a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan adopted in July 2024, shortly after CEO Elon Musk publicly endorsed Donald Trump for president. Denholm’s first sale under the plan took place the week after the election. She continued to sell through early May 2025, even as Tesla shares sank by double digits from their recent peak.

Denholm still holds around 85,000 shares and nearly 200,000 unexercised options, per SEC disclosures, potentially worth between $50 and $80 million at current prices.

A long arc of cashing out

Denholm, a former tech executive from Australia, was appointed board chair in 2018 as part of a settlement with the SEC that required Musk to step down from that role. Her compensation has consisted largely of stock options, some granted as early as 2014. For example, she recently purchased over 112,000 shares at $24.73 each and sold them the same day for more than $270 apiece.

The sales were legal and pre-scheduled. It’s their timing that’s raising eyebrows, especially as Musk has urged Tesla employees to “hang on to your stock” and some critics question whether Denholm and other board members are truly independent.

The New York City comptroller Brad Lander, whose office oversees major public pension funds invested in Tesla, told the Times that the optics “don’t send a message that this is a board chair who is invested in the future of the company.”

Adding to the mix, Tesla’s board compensation has a long and troubled history. A 2023 settlement of a 2020 shareholder lawsuit has had members, including Denholm, returning hundreds of millions in cash and options without admitting wrongdoing. The clawbacks have run into 2025.

The recent stock sales also come amid renewed scrutiny of Denholm — and of Musk

Early this month, the Wall Street Journal (NWS-0.54%) reported that Tesla’s board had quietly explored CEO succession options as concerns grew over Elon Musk’s political entanglements and divided focus. “Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions,” per the Journal story.

Tesla and Denholm publicly denied the report, with Denholm reaffirming support for Musk. At the same time, it takes a lot for such a story to go to print to begin with, and the reporting was detailed, suggesting serious and legitimate underpinnings.

Against that backdrop, Denholm’s decision to cash out stock options while Tesla’s share price slumped — and while Musk urged employees to “hang on to your stock” — raises fresh questions about internal confidence.

Denholm’s remaining stake in Tesla represents a sliver of the wealth she’s already cashed out

The more than $530 million Denholm realized since 2018 came largely from options granted between 2014 and 2020, when Tesla’s share price was a fraction of what it is today.

Denholm and other Tesla directors haven’t received new stock options since mid-2021, when the board agreed to stop issuing equity grants as part of the shareholder lawsuit settlement. That means the compensation she’s working through now is essentially the tail end of a long, extraordinarily lucrative run, not a reflection of fresh board rewards. With Tesla’s stock down from its highs (though still extraordinarily successful over the longer term) and no new equity coming in, the value of her remaining stake looks small even as her realized gains remain massive.