Timing of Tesla stock sale saved major shareholder Baillie Gifford billions

Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) major share price fall this week made last week's disposal by its largest external investor look very well timed indeed. The electric vehicle maker's stock plunged 21% overnight to US$330.21, after investors were surprised as it missed out on joining the S&P 500 in the index’s latest update. READ: Tesla sheds US$80bn after S&P 500 inclusion snub fuels rush of selling At the end of last week, when the market price ended Thursday at around US$480 apiece, Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford sold 19mln shares. At that price it would have netted the Edinburgh-based investment company around US$9.1bn as it trimmed its stake to 4.25%. Had the sale been made at yesterday's closing price, this would only have made US$6.27bn, a difference Baillie Gifford of US$2.8bn. The asset manager said it trimmed its holding in Tesla to avoid breaching UK regulations for funds to avoid holding a position of more than 10% in a single stock, saying it intends to remain significant shareholders for many years and remains “very optimistic about the future of the company”.