Investor's Corner
Who Are the Top 4 Tesla (TSLA) Shareholders?
Recent articles covering the top TSLA shareholders have concentrated on their percentage of the company shares. My interest is in the recent trading patterns, mostly involving options exercises, of these top shareholders. Here are the results on my analysis.
Elon Musk
I really do not need to give a bio of Elon. If you read this site you know everything about the man. He is the CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, and the Chairman of SolarCity.
Prior to the recent secondary Public offering, he owned about 29.57 million shares. His involvement in the latest offering included 3 major transactions: (1) the exercise of stock options to acquire 5,503,972 shares of Tesla’s common stock, (2) the sale of 2,782,670 shares of TSLA common stock and (3) donating 1,200,000 shares of common stock to charity. If one also adds all of Mr. Musk shares plus all shares issuable to Musk if all options vested and exercisable within 60 days after March 31, 2016 were hypothetically exercised, Musk has beneficial ownership of 33,738,794 (33.73 million) shares or 22.5% of Tesla’s common stock.
Antonio J. Gracias
Antonio J. Gracias serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee of private-equity-fund operator Value Equity Partners. His duties include overall responsibility for the Firm’s management, operations, and investing. He also sits on the boards of Tesla Motors (a company in which Valor invests), SolarCity and SpaceX.
According to his bio on the Tesla Investors site, “Mr. Gracias holds a joint B.S. and M.S.F.S. (honors degree) in International Finance and Economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He also studied corporate structures and economic development at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to completing his Masters, Mr. Gracias returned to Japan as a Nikko Securities Fellow. Mr. Gracias holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He is fluent in Spanish, proficient in Portuguese, and has a working knowledge of Japanese.”
In 2013, Mr Gracia was one of the subjects of the Wall Street Journal article “Directors Take Shelter in Trading Plans.”
According to the article, “These plans—opaque documents about which little is disclosed to regulators or the public—increasingly are moving beyond the executives for whom they were chiefly devised and finding favor with a different variety of insider: members of boards of directors, including some who run investment funds. Non-executive directors’ [such as Antonio J. Gracias] use of so-called 10b5-1 trading plans, which lay out future stock trades at set prices or on set dates, has jumped 55% since 2008, a Wall Street Journal analysis of regulatory filings found. […] Valor set up a 10b5-1 plan in November 2011 and Mr. Gracias reported the sale of 927,205 of Valor’s Tesla shares from March 9 through March 20, 2012, regulatory filings show [FORM 4]. In those 11 days, Valor sold $32 million of Tesla stock, more than half its stake. Tesla’s stock price soon got hit.’
There is no requirement to disclose the terms of trading plans. Even their existence often remains hidden. Tesla does report these types of transaction in FORM 4 disclosures.
Looking at the FORM 4 disclosures, a.k.a. Statement of Beneficial Ownership, for Antonio J. Gracias available on Tesla investor web site, for the past year, I discovered that he received several Non-Qualified Stock Option awards for his work as Director of Tesla: 50,000 with exercise of $261.89 on 6/18/2015, 51,000 with exercise of $250.69 on 6/12/2015. All these options are currently “under water” (below the current stock price) and effectively worthless, until the stock moves above the exercise price.
On 6/2 and 6/3, 2014 Antonio J. Gracias sold about $3 million of TSLA stock owned through his Trust and the AIJ Growth Fund.
As of May 15, 2016, Antonio Gracias held 254,647 shares of Tesla, which were worth approximately $56.5 million, and represent about 0.18% of Tesla’s common stock.
Kimbal Musk
According to Tesla Investors web site, “Kimbal Musk is CEO of Medium, Inc, an internet software company based in Boulder, Colo. Prior to Medium, he has been involved in many young businesses. Mr. Musk and his brother, Elon, started their first company, Zip2, an early content management company for the Internet, 1995. It was the first company to bring vector-based maps and door-to-door directions to the internet, and it built the online content management systems behind more than 100 media companies, including The New York Times. Zip2 was sold for $307 million in cash in 1999, one of the largest transactions of its kind in the internet industry.”
He sits on the board of Tesla Motors and SpaceX.
Looking at his latest filed FORM 4, Statement of Beneficial Ownership, on 5/2/2016 he exercised 5,555 non-qualified stock options, with exercise price of $29.6, and sold them at a $1.15 million profit.
As of May 15, 2016, Musk Kimbal held 152,325 shares of Tesla, which are worth approximately $33.81 million, and represent about 0.10% of Tesla’s common stock.
Jeffrey B. Straubel
Like Elon Musk, Jeffrey B. Straubel also known as “JB” needs no introduction as Chief Technology Officer of Tesla Motors.
According to the company’s Investors page, “As a co-founder of Tesla, JB has overseen the technical and engineering design of the vehicles, focusing on the battery, motor, power electronics, and high-level software sub-systems. Additionally, he evaluates new technology, manages vehicle systems testing, and handles technical interface with key vendors.”
Looking at the FORM 4 filings of the last couple of years for Jeffrey B. Straubel, two things are interesting to note. First on 4/11/2016 he was awarded 1,837 ISOs (Incentive Stock Options) and 61, 771 NSOs (Non-qualified Stock Options), at an exercise price of $249.92. As with Antonio Gracias, these options are underwater, and worthless at the moment, given the current stock price.
Secondly, between May 2015 and December 2015, Jeffrey B Straubel, set up pre-determined Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plan, where he would exercise and sell about 10,000 options in almost every month, on the 15th of the month. Accordingly, he exercised and sold 75,000 shares of stock, at prices between $206 and $263, for a total profit of about $17.8 million. Not too shabby for the tech guy.
As of May 15, 2016, Jeffrey B. Straubel held 242,818 shares of Tesla, which are worth approximately $53.90 million, and represent about 0.17% of Tesla’s common stock.
Technical Analysis
Looking at today’s $TSLA stock action, TSLA is having a flat day like the rest of the market. The stock is still above the 200-day moving average, but the candle is forming a Doji, usually a sign of indecision. This could mean the end of the 10-session Heikin Ashi positive pay-day-cycle or just a pause in the up trend. I have a conditional stop at $220, that will ensure I keep some profits from the swing trade I started 12 trading-days ago.
This afternoon at 2PM PDT, the Tesla Motors Inc. 2016 Annual Shareholder’s Meeting is being held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.. It will be streaming online at:
https://www.teslamotors.com/2016shareholdermeeting
SpaceX announced today that it commenced its first-ever public bond offering, marking a significant step in the newly public company’s capital markets strategy.
The company announced an offering of senior unsecured notes expected to raise at least $20 billion.
The move comes just a short time after SpaceX completed one of the largest initial public offerings in history. In mid-June, the company priced shares at $135 and raised more than $85 billion, propelling founder Elon Musk’s net worth past the trillion-dollar mark and giving the firm substantial liquidity.
🚨 SpaceX has announced its inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes.
The net proceeds will be used to repay outstanding loans under its bridge loan facility in full.
This inaugural debt offering represents a financing milestone for SpaceX, which previously depended… pic.twitter.com/pcOZuVbTRv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
According to the company’s SEC filing, the net proceeds from the notes will be used primarily to repay in full the outstanding borrowings under its existing bridge loan facility, cover related fees and expenses, and fund general corporate purposes. The offering is being conducted under Rule 144A, as well as Regulation S, targeting qualified institutional buyers and non-U.S. investors. Notes will be unsecured obligations ranking equally with other unsubordinated debt.
The $20 billion bridge loan was used to refinance approximately $17.5 billion in higher-cost “junk” debt tied to X and xAI. SpaceX had merged with xAI in February 2026 in an all-stock deal. The bridge facility, which matures in September 2027, had represented the bulk of SpaceX’s long-term debt.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
In connection with the bond launch, SpaceX disclosed it held approximately $100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19. Investor calls began on the announcement date, with pricing and launch expected shortly thereafter. Rating agencies have assigned investment-grade ratings to the proposed bonds, reflecting confidence in SpaceX’s dominant position in commercial launches and the growth trajectory of its Starlink internet offering.
The debt raise also allows SpaceX to optimize its balance sheet by replacing short-term, higher-cost bridge financing with longer-date, lower-cost fixed-income securities. This provides greater financial flexibility to support capital-intensive initiatives, including the development of Starship, the expansion of the Starlink constellation, and the integration of AI capabilities following the xAI combination.
SpaceX shares (NASDAQ: SPCX) fell sharply on the news, dropping over 16 percent overall on the market on Monday. The stock had surged initially after debuting but pulled back amid profit-taking and broader market dynamics.
Overall, the bond offering underscores SpaceX’s transition to a mature public company with access to diverse funding sources. It positions the firm to pursue its long-term vision of multiplanetary expansion and AI infrastructure, while maintaining a disciplined approach to its capital structure in a high-growth but capital-heavy industry.
Investor's Corner
SpaceX is launching a secret spacecraft that could change how things are made in space
SpaceX’s secret disk-shaped Starfall capsule is targeting a market no reentry vehicle has cracked.
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, June 23 for the first flight of Starfall, a reentry capsule the company has developed almost entirely in private. The Falcon 9 launch window opens at 6:43 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with a backup window available the same time on June 24. SpaceX has made no public announcement about the vehicle, only providing launch details. Everything known about it has come through FAA and FCC regulatory filings.
What makes Starfall different starts with its shape. Rather than the traditional cone used by Dragon and every other cargo return capsule in operation, Starfall is a flat disk that measures roughly 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) wide and just 2.5 feet (0.75 meters) tall, and weighing 4,630 pounds (2,100 kg) and capable of returning up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of payload from orbit. The disk geometry maximizes structural efficiency and payload volume relative to mass, and the heat shield mechanically jettisons just before splashdown, allowing recovery teams to retrieve both the capsule and the shield separately from the Pacific Ocean.
The difference with Starfall from existing competitors, such as Varda Space Industries, which has largely built the orbital manufacturing market and returns heavy payloads per flight is that Starfall’s specification is roughly 30 times more per mission, and is designed to be mass-produced and launched on either Falcon 9 or Starship. That combination of volume and launch access is something no standalone startup can replicate, and it puts SpaceX in direct competition with the companies that currently pay it to reach orbit.
SpaceX to launch military missile tracking satellites through new Space Force contract
The intended market is orbital manufacturing: pharmaceuticals, protein crystals, semiconductors, and advanced optical fiber that physically cannot be produced in the presence of gravity. FAA documents describe Starfall’s long-term purpose as building a “self-sustaining commercial in-space manufacturing market” and as a potential successor to the industrial capabilities of the International Space Station, which is set to retire in the late 2020s. Military rapid global cargo delivery is a parallel application under active discussion with the Pentagon.
The reason some industries seek manufacturing in space comes down to gravity. On Earth, gravity causes materials to settle, separate, and deform during production. In microgravity, those constraints disappear.
SpaceX’s already controls launch access, which means it currently functions as the landlord for every competitor in the orbital manufacturing return space. Starfall converts that landlord position into vertical ownership, and it would no longer just carry other companies’ capsules to orbit, but rather operate the capsule, own the return logistics, and capture the service revenue directly. Viewed alongside Starlink, Colossus, and the xAI merger, Starfall fits a consistent pattern: SpaceX identifying infrastructure layers that others depend on and moving to own them outright. Orbital manufacturing return is the next layer on that list.
If Tuesday’s reentry, parachute sequence, and recovery demonstration goes as planned, the second FAA-approved test flight follows. A successful pair of demos would position SpaceX to begin offering Starfall as a commercial service, likely first to pharmaceutical and materials science customers before scaling toward the military and broader manufacturing segments.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk just upped his Tesla stake further fueling SpaceX merger conversation
Elon Musk just collected a $116 billion Tesla payday and the timing is eye-opening
Elon Musk quietly collected one of the largest single-transaction paydays in corporate history on Monday. A Form 4 filed with the SEC on June 17, 2026 disclosed that Musk exercised 303,960,630 Tesla stock options from his 2018 compensation package, with the transaction dated June 16. No shares were sold on the open market.
The numbers are straightforward but striking. Musk exercised the options at a split-adjusted strike price of $23.34, with Tesla closing at $404.66 that day, putting the spread at $381.32 per share and generating roughly $115.9 billion in paper gains in a single transaction. To cover the exercise cost, Tesla withheld 17,531,857 shares through a net share settlement, meaning Musk paid nothing out of pocket.
For perspective, in 2018, Elon Musk’s award was originally approved by Tesla shareholders on March 21, 2018, and structured entirely around performance milestones that many analysts at the time called unreachable. Every tranche eventually vested. The original grant covered 20,264,042 shares at $350.02, which after Tesla’s 5-for-1 split in 2020 and 3-for-1 split in 2022 adjusted to 303,960,630 shares at $23.34. A Delaware court rescinded the award in January 2024, ruling the board was conflicted. As Teslarati reported, Tesla shareholders voted to ratify the package anyway in June 2024 by a wide margin. The Delaware Supreme Court reversed the decision in December 2025, finding full cancellation too extreme, and Tesla’s board signed an Implementation Agreement on April 21, 2026 to formally deliver the shares.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
The timing and structure of the Form 4 filing carries more weight than a routine stock option exercise typically would. Musk exercised his 2018 Tesla award on June 16, a week into SpaceX completing its IPO and trading publicly, and giving SpaceX a public market valuation and share currency for the first time in the company’s history. A stock-for-stock merger between two companies requires the acquiring entity to have tradeable shares it can offer to the target’s shareholders, and SpaceX now has exactly that. At the same time, Musk just increased his direct Tesla voting power to approximately 20%, giving him greater influence over any shareholder vote that a merger would require. The restricted shares he received cannot be sold until 2033, which removes any near-term incentive to cash out and instead positions this stake as long-term structural collateral in a deal. Additionally, Musk’s two companies are already deeply intertwined through shared semiconductor fabrication at their joint TERAFAB facility in Austin, cross-company supply chain transactions, and Tesla’s $2 billion investment in xAI prior to the SpaceX-xAI merger.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has publicly placed the odds of a Tesla and SpaceX combination at 80% to 90% by early 2027. The Implementation Agreement that made Monday’s exercise possible was signed on April 21, 2026, roughly two months before the SpaceX IPO closed. That sequencing, building Musk’s Tesla ownership to its highest point ever immediately before SpaceX gains the public currency needed to acquire it, is either an extraordinary coincidence or a carefully staged foundation for the largest corporate merger in history.
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