) shareholder filed a lawsuit on Thursday accusing CEO Elon Musk of insider trading when he sold over $7.5 billion of shares of the electric car maker in late 2022, saying the billionaire entrepreneur sold the shares before potentially disappointing production and delivery numbers were made public.
"Musk exploited his position at Tesla, and he breached his fiduciary duties to Tesla," the lawsuit said, asking the court to direct Musk to return the profits made from the trades.The lawsuit also accused Tesla's directors of breaching their fiduciary duty by allowing Musk to sell the shares.
"Had waited to make these sales until after the release of material adverse news,... his sales would have netted him less than 55% of the amounts realized from his November and December 2022 sales," the lawsuit said.It comes as Musk faces opposition from some Tesla shareholders who are set to vote on June 13 on whether to ratify his $56 billion pay package, which a Delaware judge voided in January because she found he improperly controlled the process.
A separate shareholder lawsuit has accused Musk of defrauding X investors by delaying disclosure of his stake in the social media company to amass shares at lower prices.Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors.