‘This should be of great interest to the SEC,’ says securities-law expert of Musk stock sales ahead of bad news on Tesla deliveries

Late last year, after a wave of news reports pointing to sagging demand for his company’s vehicles, Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk sold almost $3.6 billion of his shares in the electric-car maker.

On Jan. 2, Tesla announced fourth-quarter vehicle deliveries that were significantly below the company’s most recent forecast to investors. The news sent Tesla’s stock price
TSLA,
+2.34%

plunging when markets opened the next day.