Former Tesla SVP Drew Baglino sold shares worth $181.5 million, the SEC filing said

Former Tesla SVP Drew Baglino sold shares worth $181.5 million, the SEC filing said

executive Drew Baglino, who announced his resignation earlier this month, sold shares in the electric vehicle company worth about $181.5 million, according to a Thursday filing with the SEC.

Baglino, who joined Tesla in 2006, sold about 1.14 million of his 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 was laying off 10% of its global workforce, following a drop in first-quarter shipments and a sharp drop in stock prices. That day, Baglino and fellow company veteran Rohan Patel said they were leaving the company.

Baglino announced his departure in a statement posted to X.

“I made the difficult decision to move on from Tesla after 18 years yesterday,” he wrote. “I am very grateful to have worked with and learned from the incredibly talented people at Tesla over the years.”

Baglino started as an engineer and rose through the ranks, most recently serving as senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, a position he has held since 2016. Reporting directly to Musk, Baglino is seen by many colleagues as the unofficial chief operating officer.

Before the latest sale, Baglino had unloaded about $4 million worth of stock in two transactions this year — one in late February and another in early April, filings show. In each case, he sold 10,500 shares, exercising stock options in both.

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

Baglino did not respond to requests for comment. Tesla also did not comment.

Baglino resigned as Tesla appeared to be embarking on a major strategic shift.

Musk said on the company’s earnings call this week that while Tesla still aims to produce an affordable new model electric car by 2025, investors should focus more on Tesla’s “autonomy roadmap.” Tesla said it plans to unveil its robotaxi design, or CyberCab, on August 8.

Musk also touted Tesla’s investment in AI infrastructure and the company’s potential to eventually deliver self-driving vehicle technology, robotaxis, driverless call services, and “sentient” humanoid robots. He also told skeptics to stay away from the stock.

“If someone doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they shouldn’t be an investor in the company,” Musk said during the call.

Tesla’s share price, which was down about 40% for the year before the earnings report, jumped 18% in the two trading days after Musk’s comments, closing Thursday at $170.18.

Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi is among the sceptics. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Sacconaghi questioned whether Musk’s promised affordable EV would “really be a new model, or a tweak on an existing model.” He also said that competitors, notably Waymo, already have robotaxi services on the road, while Tesla is still struggling with autonomous vehicle research and development.

Tesla reported a 9% drop in first-quarter revenue, its worst year-over-year decline since 2012, due to waning demand and increased global competition. The company also reported a 55% drop in net income during the quarter.

Although Musk said he expects the second quarter to be better than the first, the company did not issue guidance for the year.

At the end of the earnings call, Martin Viecha, Tesla’s vice president of investor relations, announced that he too had resigned.