Elon Musk Sells More Tesla Shares; Stock Drops in Early Trading
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold another chunk of his stock on Thursday after pledging on Twitter to liquidate 10per cent of his holdings in the electric car maker.
Detroit, November 12: Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold another chunk of his stock on Thursday after pledging on Twitter to liquidate 10per cent of his holdings in the electric car maker. Musk sold about 640,000 shares for roughly USD687.3 million, according to two filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. So far this week, the eccentric CEO has sold about 5.1 million shares worth about USD5.69 billion.
About USD1.1 billion of the proceeds will go toward paying tax obligations for stock options granted to Musk in September. The options are part of a compensation package Musk and Tesla agreed to in 2018 that provided the CEO with options if Tesla hit certain financial targets. The company is now profitable and worth more than USD1 trillion.
Filings from Wednesday disclosed that Musk exercised options to buy just over 2.1 million shares for USD 6.24 each. Wedbush Analyst Daniel Ives has calculated that Musk has more than USD10 billion in taxes coming due on stock options that vest next summer. Elon Musk Sells Over $1 Billion in Tesla Shares to Cover Taxes After Twitter Poll.
Musk's sales so far amount to just over 3per cent of his stake in Tesla. He still owns about 167.5 million shares, or just under 17per cent of the company, according to the SEC filings and data provider FactSet. Last weekend, Musk said he would sell 10per cent of his holdings in the company, based on the results of a poll he conducted on Twitter. Elon Musk Responds to Ron Wyden With NSFW Tweet After US Senator Calls For Tax on Billionaires; Check What He Wrote.
The sale tweets prompted heavy selling in the stock Monday and Tuesday. Shares were down another 2.2per cent in early trading on Friday, and are down about 15per cent for the week. Musk is Tesla's largest shareholder and is the wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, with a net worth of around USD 278.7 billion. Tesla Inc. is based in Palo Alto, California, although Musk has announced it will move its headquarters to Texas.
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