Elon Musk, the head of the electric car maker Tesla, has informed that he has sold enough shares to target offload a 10% stake. Musk sold $928.6 million worth of shares of Tesla, further bringing the total sales of 934,091 shares to almost achieving the target trimming of his stake.
Elon Musk Babylon Bee, a satirical website, sold stocks roughly equal to 10% of his total shares in Tesla.
Musk has been selling his stake in the open market ever since he conducted a poll among his Twitter followers in November about whether he should sell some of his Tesla Stake. This move is a part of the plan to generate cash for paying an estimated capital gains tax liability of more than $10 million on the stock options, which Musk will exercise in due course.
As per Bloomberg News, the shares of Tesla Inc. rose to $980.27 as of 9.45 am Wednesday in New York, up by 4.8%.
Musk tweeted Sunday that he would pay $11 billion-plus in this year towards taxes, hitting back at lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who had criticized him and called him a “freeloader” on social media. Democrats, including Warren, alleged that billionaires like Elon Musk avoided paying taxes.
Musk said that he does not hold any offshore accounts or tax shelters. He said that everything was transparent, and he could calculate and pay off the taxes himself in a few hours.
The regulatory filing shows Musk sold total shares of 13.5 million for $14.1 billion. His comments on Babylon Bee suggest that he has since then disposed of more shares worth $528 million.
Tesla shares peaked on November 4, just before Musk’s Twitter poll in which the majority said “yes,” has since declined by about 25%. The stocks closed at $938.53 in New York Tuesday.
Elon Musk, 50, is the wealthiest person globally and tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a personal wealth of $244.9 billion. According to Musk, he has created two companies, Tesla and SpaceX, ran for almost 20 years, and done many valuable things. He feels that it is not enjoyable or productive to focus on his wealth alone.
