DroneShield Directors Sell $70M in Shares: Tax Obligations or Lack of Confidence?

The primary reason cited for the sell-off was the need to pay taxes.

• Trigger Event: The company reached a major milestone of $200 million in cash receipts over a 12-month period. This triggered the vesting of "performance options" for the executive team.
• The Mechanism: To access this value, the directors "exercised" these options, converting them into actual shares. This conversion is treated as income, creating an immediate and substantial tax bill.
• The Sale: The directors sold the newly acquired shares on-market to generate the cash required to pay this tax liability.

Between November 6 and November 12, 2025, three key figures sold approximately $70 million worth of stock:

• Oleg Vornik (CEO): Sold his *entire* holding of fully paid ordinary shares, netting approximately $49.5 million. (Note: He still holds unvested options).
• Peter James (Chairman): Sold approximately $12.4 million.
• Jethro Marks (Director): Sold approximately $4.9 million.

While selling shares for tax purposes is standard, three factors caused investor outrage and a 30 percent crash in the share price:

• The Phantom Contract: Just days before the selling began, DroneShield announced a $7.6 million contract with the US Government. This news boosted the share price. However, on November 10, the company retracted the announcement, admitting it was an administrative error and the contract was a revision of an old order, not a new one. The directors sold shares during this volatile window.
• US CEO Resignation: Shortly after the share sales and the contract retraction, the CEO of DroneShield's US operations, Matt McCrann, resigned abruptly effective immediately, further spooking the market.
• Optics of Exiting: The fact that CEO Oleg Vornik sold 100 percent of his ordinary shares (retaining only options) was interpreted by some investors as a lack of confidence in the company's future valuation, despite his statements that the business fundamentals remained strong and unchanged.

Despite the recent controversy, DroneShield reported explosive growth in their September quarterly update:

• Revenue: $93 million in Q3 alone (11x increase vs. same quarter last year)
• YTD Revenue: $165 million for the first three quarters
• Cash Balance: Just under $250 million
• Sales Pipeline: $2.5 billion globally, with largest opportunity being $800 million in Europe

The company's counter-drone technology addresses a $60 billion total addressable market, with demand surging due to asymmetric warfare lessons from Ukraine.