Tractor Supply boss books $2M gain

Big sale part of year-old trading plan

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

Jim Wright, chairman and CEO of Tractor Supply, last week sold 40,000 of his shares in the company after converting a batch of options that became exercisable in 2006.

Wright, who was named CEO of the Brentwood-based retailer five years ago this month, paid about $3.50 for those options but last Thursday sold the underlying shares for $53. The difference between those two prices amounts to a profit of almost $2 million.

Wright's sale last week was his fourth such transaction in the past three months under the umbrella trading plan he adopted late last year. In July, he disposed of about 64,000 shares in three transactions. Wright still owns about 120,000 shares as well as options – priced between $3.35 and more than $60 – to acquire more than 700,000 other shares.

Shares of Tractor Supply (Ticker: TSCO) were off about 1 percent around 2:15 p.m. Year to date, they've gained almost 50 percent.