Former Tesla Senior Vice President Drew Baglino to sell $181.5 million worth of stock | Wilnesh News

Earlier Tesla Executive Drew Baglino, who announced his resignation earlier this month, sold about $181.5 million worth of stock in the electric vehicle company. Archive Meet with the U.S. 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 “approximate sale date” of April 25 and describing it as the exercise of stock options.

On April 15, Tesla announced that it would lay off 10% of its global workforce due to a drop in first-quarter deliveries and a sharp decline in stock prices. That day, Baglino and company veteran Rohan Patel said they were leaving the company.

Baglino announces his resignation In a statement posted to.

“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 over the years.”

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. Considered the unofficial head of operations.

Before the latest sale, Baglino had offloaded about $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 his stock options.

Baglino has become a familiar voice and face to shareholders during earnings calls and other major company events, including during the presentation of Tesla’s “Master Plan Part 3” in spring 2023, often discussing mining, battery manufacturing and performance.

Baglino did not respond to a request for comment. Tesla also had no comment.

Baglino’s resignation comes as Tesla appears to be embarking on a major strategic shift.

Musk said on the company’s earnings call this week that while Tesla still intends to produce affordable new electric vehicles in 2025, investors should pay more attention to Tesla’s “autonomy roadmap.” Tesla said it plans to launch its CyberCab design on August 8.

Musk also touted Tesla’s investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and the company’s potential to eventually offer 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 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 shares fell about 40% in the year before the earnings report, but rose 18% in the two trading days after Musk’s comments, closing at $170.18 on Thursday.

Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi is among the skeptics. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Sacconaghi questioned whether Musk’s promised affordable electric cars were “really new models or improvements to existing models.” He also said that competitors, especially Waymo, already provide robotaxi services on the road, while Tesla is still working hard on the development of self-driving cars.

Tesla’s first-quarter revenue fell 9%, its largest annual decline since 2012, as demand fell 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 Vice President of Investor Relations Martin Viecha announced that he, too, would be resigning.

watch: Tesla and Musk fans optimistic about prospects