before that Tesla Executive Drew Baglino announced his resignation earlier this month, selling about $181.5 million worth of stock in the electric car company, according to a company filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.
Baglino, who joined Tesla in 2006, is selling about 1.14 million shares, the filing said, listing an “estimated sale date” of April 25 and describing it as the exercise of stock options.
Tesla announced on April 15 that it would lay off 10% of its workforce worldwide. Deliveries decreased in the first quarter and stock prices fell sharply. That day, Baglino and company veteran Rohan Patel said they were leaving the company.
Baglino announced his resignation https://twitter.com/baglino/status/1779872449628426739.
“After 18 years, yesterday I made the difficult decision to leave Tesla,” he wrote. “I am extremely grateful to have worked with and learned from the countless talented people at Tesla.”
Baglino started as an engineer and rose through the ranks, most recently as senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, a position he has held since 2016. Baglino reports directly to Musk and is considered by many colleagues to be the unofficial head of operations.
Before his latest sale, Baglino offloaded nearly $4 million worth of stock in two transactions this year – one in late February and another in early April, documents show. In each case, he sold 10,500 shares and exercised stock options.
Baglino has become a familiar voice and face to shareholders during Tesla’s “Master Plan Part 3” presentation in the spring of 2023, often discussing mining, battery manufacturing and performance, earnings calls and other major company events.
Baglino did not respond to a request for comment. Tesla also had no comment.
Baglino’s resignation comes as Tesla appears to be ushering in a major strategic shift.
Musk said on the company’s earnings conference call this week, investors should pay more attention to Tesla’s “autonomous driving roadmap,” although it still aims to build new affordable electric cars in 2025. Tesla has announced that it plans to launch a robot taxi (CyberCab) design on August 8.
Musk also cited Tesla’s investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and the company’s potential to eventually deliver self-driving car technology, robotaxis, driverless ride-hailing services and “sentient” humanoid robots. He even told doubters to stay away from the stock.
“If someone doesn’t believe that Tesla is going to solve the self-driving problem, I don’t think they should be an investor in the company,” Musk said on the call.
Tesla’s stock price fell nearly 40% a year before the earnings report, but rose 18% in the two trading days after the earnings report. Musk closed at $170.18 on Thursday.
Bernstein analyst Tony Sacconaghi is among the skeptics. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Sacconaghi questioned whether Musk’s promised affordable electric cars are “really new models or improvements to existing models.” He also said that competitors, notably Waymo, already offer robotaxi services on the road, while Tesla is still working on developing self-driving cars.
Tesla’s first-quarter revenue fell 9%, its biggest annual decline since 2012, as demand weakened and global competition intensified. The company also reported a 55% drop in net profit for the quarter.
The company has yet to issue guidance for the year, although Musk said he expects the second quarter to be better than the first.
At the end of the earnings call, Tesla’s vice president of investor relations, Martin Vicha, announced that he would also be stepping down.
Watch: Tesla and Musk fans are optimistic about the prospects
Tags: Teslas senior vice president Drew Baglino selling million worth stock SEC filings
