Tesla board members benefit from the stock rally

Ira Ehrenpreis, board member of Tesla Inc., sold more than $ 200 million in shares in the electric car maker on Wednesday after the stock broke the $ 1,000 mark for the first time, records show.

Antonio Gracias, a former Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) board member whose term ended earlier this month, also announced on the same day his proposed sale of $ 610 million shares, according to the filing.

Tesla became the fifth company to hit the trillion dollar mark on Monday after closing a deal with rental car company Hertz and posting its best quarterly sales and earnings.

Independent Director Ehrenpreis exercised options to purchase 370,000 shares at about $ 50 each on Wednesday before they expire next June, according to records with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The venture capitalist, who has been a member of Tesla's board of directors since May 2007, then sold 203,429 shares at a price of up to $ 1,068.38 each. The shares are worth about $ 214 million, according to Reuters calculations.

Gracias, chief executive officer of private equity firm Valor, also announced plans to sell 338,493 shares for $ 351 million and an additional 250,000 shares for $ 259 million, which he holds indirectly through the AJG Growth Fund , as can be seen from the documents.

He had been a member of the Board of Directors since May 2007 before his term expired in October. He is known as a close friend of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is a director of SpaceX and was director of SolarCity until it was acquired by Tesla in 2016.

Current and former directors, including Musk, can benefit from the gains in Tesla stock because they own a large number of stocks and stock options.