Taneja Vaibhav 4

What Happened

• Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer, exercised 3,000 option shares and sold 3,000 common shares on May 13, 2026.
  • Option exercises: 1,000 shares @ $18.44 (cost $18,440) and 2,000 shares @ $18.22 (cost $36,440) — total exercise cost $54,880.
  • Open-market sale: 3,000 shares sold @ $450.00 each for total proceeds of $1,350,000.
• The filing also reports related derivative entries (exercise/conversion) showing zero-dollar disposals; per the footnote, approximately 1,337 of the 3,000 shares were sold to cover the exercise price and tax withholding.

Key Details

• Transaction date: May 13, 2026. Form 4 filed May 15, 2026 (timely).
• Prices and amounts: exercised 3,000 options at $18.44 and $18.22; sold 3,000 shares at $450.00; sale proceeds ~$1.35M.
• Reported holdings (footnote): 55,500 shares held directly by Taneja in GRATs; spouse holds 55,500 shares in GRATs (reported trusteeships).
• Footnotes of note:
  • F1: Trades executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted Nov 17, 2025.
  • F2: ~1,337 shares of the 3,000 sold were used to cover exercise price and tax withholding (cashless/net exercise).
  • F4/F5: The exercised options are part of earlier option awards that became fully vested in 2023.
• Transaction codes: M = exercise/conversion of derivative; S = sale; F = tax withholding (as described in footnotes).

Context

• This was a typical option exercise followed by an immediate open-market sale; because shares were sold to cover costs and withholding, it functions like a cashless exercise rather than an independent market-timed sale.
• The transaction was executed under a pre-set 10b5-1 plan, which often indicates trades were pre-scheduled rather than opportunistic. As always, filings are factual records of insider activity and do not, by themselves, indicate the insider’s view of the company’s prospects.