Tesla stock fell as high as 11% on Tuesday in mid-day trading. This was despite Elon Musk's weekend proposal to sell 10% of his shares in electric vehicle company.
This is the biggest drop for the stock this year. It comes after a Monday fall of almost 5%, which tempers a generally upward trend for the year. Tesla shares have risen more than 47% overall in 2021, more than doubling from a year ago. This is because the company reported better automotive margins, and negotiated a chip shortage to ramp up production, while its competitors failed.
Former and current board members, including Robyn Denholm (chairwoman), Elon Musk's brother Kimbal Musk and Antonio Gracias, have all sold hundreds of millions of shares of Tesla since Oct. 28, when Tesla's market cap surpassed $1 billion.
As part of his CEO performance plan, Musk received a substantial options package in 2012. Musk doesn't receive a salary nor a cash bonus. His wealth is derived from stock awards and the rise in Tesla's share prices. The 2012 award was for 22.8million shares at $6.24 per share. These shares will expire on August 13, 2022.
Additional options are available from the 2018 unprecedented CEO pay package.
Musk, the iconoclastic CEO, has pledged at most 92 million shares of Tesla to lenders for cash borrowing. CNBC reported that Musk might want to sell shares in order to repay his debt. He also faces a potential tax bill of $15 billion if he exercised his options and sold shares.
This story is still in development. Keep checking back for more updates.
This story was contributed by Yu Li
