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Senior Tesla VP sells 82% of his shares in move that's sparked plenty of questions

Published on Aug 19, 2025 at 9:29 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid

Last updated on Aug 19, 2025 at 9:29 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by Kate Bain

Tesla’s Senior Vice President Xiaotong Zhu, also known as Tom Zhu, has sold 82 percent of his shares in the company.

Zhu sold more than 80 percent of his shares in Tesla between 2023 and 2024, according to regulatory filings.

And he’s not the only Tesla executive who has been selling stock.

In total, Tesla executives and board members have sold more than half of their shares over the past year.

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Tesla’s Senior VP sells his shares

It’s fair to say that 2025 has been a bit of a mixed-bag for Tesla, with the opening of its first-ever Tesla Diner, the official launch of its Robotaxi service, and recent figures showing sales of the Cybertruck are continuing to drop. 

Meanwhile, it has recently been revealed that several Tesla executives have been quietly selling stock in recent months and years. 

Tesla’s Senior Vice President Xiaotong Zhu, also known as Tom Zhu, has sold 82 percent of his shares in the company
Tesla

Tesla’s Senior Vice President Tom Zhu has sold off 82 percent of his shares since 2023, cutting his stake from more than 81,000 shares to under 15,000. 

And he’s not the only one. 

Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm has been selling company stock since last November as part of a pre-arranged plan around exercising equity options. 

According to a Bloomberg report from May, Denholm has parted with more than $550 million worth of shares since 2020. 

Data shared by Electrek shows that Tesla executives and board members have sold more than 50 percent of their shares over the past year. 

The sale of shares has led to some concerns about whether Tesla execs have lost confidence in the company. 

Analyst Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research posted on X that Tesla insiders were ‘selling stock at an alarming rate’. 

Elon Musk issues warning to would-be short sellers

Amid all of this, Musk has issued a stark warning for would-be short sellers. 

A short seller is someone who borrows shares and immediately sells them, expecting the price to drop, after which they can buy them back at a lower price and return them to the original owner, keeping hold of the profit they made. 

In a post on X, Musk warned anyone attempting to short-sell Tesla stock would soon be ‘obliterated’. 

A post was recently shared on X showing a list of current short sellers of Tesla stock caught the attention of Musk.

“If they don’t exit their short position before Tesla reaches autonomy at scale, they will be obliterated,” he wrote.

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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.