Tesla exodus: Insiders including Elon's brother, chair dump $100m+ in shares amid stock plunge, what next?

The rapid sale of Tesla shares by board members and top executives, including Elon Musk's brother, Kimbal, raises serious questions about the company's current health. Top officials have offloaded more than $100 million worth of shares recently. Is this a sign of internal doubt as Tesla's stock faces increasing pressure? This activity coincides with reports of Tesla shares losing more than 50% of their value, which wiped out more than $800 billion in market cap, raising concerns about the company's trajectory.

James Murdoch, a Tesla board member since 2017, has sold shares worth approximately $13 million, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, on March 10, 2025. Interestingly, this sale coincided with Tesla’s largest single-day decline in five years. James Murdoch is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and a former CEO of 21 Century Fox.

Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother, also sold 75,000 shares worth $27million last month on February 6, 2025, as per another SEC filing. Kimbal held 1,538,220 Tesla shares, according to some reports.

Tesla’s Chairperson Robyn Denholm is the one who offloaded the most number of shares in recent months. She sold more than $75 million worth of shares in the last five weeks. The sale was reportedly part of a predetermined plan and made in two transactions. Robyn Denholm is an Australian business executive who succeeded Elon Musk as the chair of Tesla in 2014. Her compensation from Tesla since she joined the board has totalled about $682 million in cash and stock, according to a Reuters analysis.

Another prominent executive of Tesla who offloaded company shares recently is its Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja. According to SEC filings he has sold shares worth more than $5 million.

The trend of board members selling their stock one by one does not bode well for the company once touted as the future of the automobile industry. When insiders, including top executives are selling shares in huge quantities, it's not seen as a positive signal by other investors, say market analysts.

Elon holds the maximum number of shares in Tesla while Kimball has a substantial amount. Institutional investors like Vanguard and BlackRock are other big shareholders. Other individuals with significant amounts of shares are Zachary Kirkhorn, former CFO of Tesla, Ira Ehrenpreis Tesla’s independent director, and Robyn Belholm, CEO.