Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Elon Musk has sold $4 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker.
Mr. Musk said in a tweet that “there are no further Tesla sales planned after today.” Tesla’s CEO sold 4.4 million shares, equating to 2.6 percent of his stake in the company, according to the US securities filings.
The sale came after Mr. Musk clinched a deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion in cash, a deal that will give the world’s richest person control of the social media platform used by millions of people and international leaders. Musk’s net worth is $268 billion, according to Forbes.
As part of the deal, Mr. Musk said he would provide a $21 billion equity commitment. It is unclear how the Tesla CEO will cover the remaining $17 billion of equity financing.
Mr. Musk holds a 43.61 percent stake in unlisted rocket company SpaceX, which is reportedly valued at $100 billion.
According to the reports, “This is Mr. Musk’s first Tesla stock sale since he offloaded $16.4 billion worth of shares in November and December after polling Twitter users about selling 10 percent of his stake in the electric car maker.”
Mr. Musk said on Twitter that “he would pay more than $11 billion in taxes in 2021 due to his exercise of stock options set to expire this year.”
Tesla shares have fallen nearly 20 percent since Mr. Musk disclosed his over 9 percent stake in Twitter on April 4. Investors have expressed concern that Mr. Musk may have to sell Tesla shares to fund his equity contribution to the takeover offer.
As part of the Twitter deal, Mr. Musk also took out a $12.5 billion margin loan tied to his Tesla stock. The Tesla CEO had already borrowed against around half of his Tesla shares, as per the reports.
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