Robyn Denholm isn’t the loudest voice in Tesla’s orbit, yet the Australian accountant‑turned‑tech‑executive now sits at the controls of the world’s most watched carmaker. She's recently sold another swathe of stock, so how much has she made so far?

After moving out of her Telstra CFO spot to take over the role of Tesla Chair in 2018, Denholm has steered the company through a series of tricky challenges and launches.

She had already sat on Tesla’s board prior to her elevation to the Chair since 2014. The new role brought with it considerable challenges (to the outside observer, at least).

From the moment she inherited the chair in late 2018, Denholm set about improving Tesla’s well-reported governance issues. 

She implemented the SEC‑mandated overhaul that followed CEO Elon Musk’s infamous “funding secured” tweet, locked down Elon’s access to his social media and brought a few more adults onto the board.

After the company turned its first profit in 2020 and was welcomed onto the S&P 500, she expanded Tesla production, green-lighting massive “gigafactories” in Berlin and Texas and focussed on rapidly expanding the automaker’s China operation.

Denholm has been well-rewarded for her tenure as Chair of Tesla. SEC filings originally reported by the New York Times shows that Denholm’s most recent share sale alone netted her US$198 million in just the last six months alone.

The Times adds that it brings her total profit from the sale of Tesla stock during her time as Chair is a cool US$530 million.

Of course, it raises confidence questions if the Chair of your company is dumping stock. But those questions probably aren’t baseless, given Tesla has fallen from US$436 per share in December 2024 to US$241 per share in April 2025. At the time of writing, Tesla closed at US$334 per share, clawing back some of its value as rumours swirl about CEO Musk’s future role in a Trump administration.

It’s a handsome figure, to be sure. But it pales in comparison to what Elon Musk is trying to get approved by shareholders for his take-home.

In 2018, Elon authored a plan to pay himself $56 billion over 10 years from Tesla if he was able to complete 12 key milestones. Following a shareholder revolt and a lawsuit, however, a court knocked it back. More than a few times. 

The FT now reports that Denholm and the Tesla board are trying again to find something that will be allowed to proceed.

Honestly, I think I’d need at least that much money to even think about trying to control Elon Musk.