Elon Musk's brother, board members, CFO sell Tesla shares, sparking questions about company's financial health

Selling of Tesla shares by its board members including Elon Musk's brother Kimball Musk, who has sold $27 million worth of Tesla stock, has raised questions about the company's financial health.

As Elon Musk continues to face backlash over his involvement in Donald Trump's administration, his company Tesla seems to be bearing the brunt as witnessed in the financial turbulence the firm has been facing of late. Tesla's stock has been on the decline since the November 5 elections, and the EV maker has seen its stock tank a whopping 30 per cent over the past month.

Amid this turbulence in the EV maker's value, the selling of Tesla shares by its board members including Elon Musk's brother Kimball Musk (who has sold $27 million worth of Tesla stock) has sparked questions about the company's financial health.

"Tesla has been taking a hit in the US, partly due to Elon's involvement with the Trump administration, which isn't sitting well with the company's largely liberal customer base. Expect continued declines in the American market as some consumers move away from the brand. That said, China remains a key market that could help offset weaker US demand. But the real game-changer? If Elon lands a government contract to license autonomous vehicle technology, that could be a massive win for Tesla's long-term future," Kevin Thompson, finance expert and founder of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek.

As per a Reuters report earlier this month, Tesla chair Robyn Denholm had also sold about $33.7 million in the electric vehicle maker's stock, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed on Monday.

Denholm, who has been Tesla's board chair since November 2018, sold 112,390 securities in the automaker, according to the filing. She also sold the same number of securities last month for gross proceeds of about $43.2 million.

Similarly, another board member of Tesla, James Murdoch, has sold shares worth approximately $13 million. Even the Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja recent sold shares worth more than $5 million.

However, Michael Ryan, finance expert and founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek that while the timing of Kimbal Musk selling the shares is "interesting", stock sale is still a "standard move" for wealth preservation.

As per a report in Gulf News, the top officials of Tesla have sold $100 million worth of shares in recent times.

This selling of Tesla shares by its senior executives coincides with the backlash the automobile company has been facing

Tesla's board, which includes CEO Elon Musk's brother Kimbal Musk, has repeatedly come under fire for its close ties with the mercurial billionaire.

(With Reuters inputs)