Dive Brief:
- Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja executed two consecutive stock sales this week, offloading approximately $1.2 million in a July 7 transaction and then selling $587,880 more on July 8, according to securities filings. Taneja, who took the Austin, Texas-based electric vehicle maker’s CFO seat in 2023, has repeatedly sold stock throughout the first half of the year. In June, the finance chief sold about $3 million in shares across multiple transactions, according to company filings.
- The most recent sales come as scrutiny of the EV maker’s corporate governance tightens.Tesla, which reported a 14% slump in vehicle deliveries at the top of the month, is facing rising pressure from its shareholders, as well as backlash against the brand’s reputation stemming from CEO Elon Musk role in President Donald Trump’s administration.
- The company’s executive leadership has come under yet more attention in recent days due to the latest twist in an ongoing feud between Musk and Trump. Also this week, unverified documents filed with the Federal Election Commission listed Taneja as the treasurer of Musk’s newly-formed political party, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest and the relationship between Musk and Tesla’s executive leadership, CFO Dive previously reported.
Dive Insight:
The FEC has requested additional information on both filings listing Taneja as treasurer, one for the “America Party (AEMP)”— decried as a hoax on Twitter by Musk — and another, separate filing for “The America Party (TAP).” Both filings gave a California address with an incorrect zip code and list a phone number which routes back to the Tesla investor relations team.
“It has come to the attention of the Federal Election Commission that you may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete committee information under 52 U.S.C. § 30103(a) when you filed FEC Form 1,” the letters from the FEC read.
The company is also facing heightened scrutiny from its shareholders. On Wednesday, a group of 27 shareholders responsible for $1.5 trillion in assets under management sent a letter to the EV maker’s board of directors, urging the company to set a date and time for its annual general meeting in light of growing concerns regarding corporate governance and a need to meet legal obligations. Tesla designated November 6 as the date of its annual shareholders meeting and listed a July 31 deadline for the submission of proposals by shareholders, it said in a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Shareholders cited Texas law which noted the EV maker was running up against a legal deadline to hold its annual meeting — which it is required to take place within 13 months of its prior meeting, marking a July 13 deadline for Tesla. The “lack of transparency raises serious concerns about the company’s respect for shareholder rights,” the Wednesday letter reads.
The group of shareholders — which included public financial officers, such as Brooke E. Lierman, comptroller for the State of Maryland, New York City Comptroller Brad S. Lander and Elizabeth Steiner, MD Oregon state treasurer — also pointed to other concerns raised by institutional shareholders, noting an increase in investor scrutiny.
Seven state treasurers — included Lierman — sent a letter to Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm in April calling for improved board accountability and shareholder transparency, for instance. The move followed a public letter issued that same month by the American Federation of Teachers to the EV maker’s chief fiduciary officer, raising concerns over its material governance, the shareholders noted Wednesday.