A Tesla 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, reports Reuters.
Shareholder Michael Perry, in the lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court, said that Tesla's share price plummeted after the company's fourth-quarter numbers were made public on Jan. 2, 2023, and claimed that Musk "improperly benefited" by about $3 billion in insider profits.
"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.
According to the lawsuit, Musk sold the shares on various dates in November 2022 and December 2022.
The lawsuit also accused Tesla's directors of breaching their fiduciary duty by allowing Musk to sell the shares.
Musk and Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
In the lawsuit, Perry said Musk - who in 2022 said demand for Tesla's vehicles was "excellent" - found out about the lower-than-expected numbers mid-November, with his access to real-time data, and sold his shares before the information was public.
Following news of vehicle price discounts that sparked demand concerns and the release of the numbers in January, Tesla's stock tanked.
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