Elon Musk sells Tesla shares worth $4bn after saying in April he would sell no more
In August, he sold another $6.9bn worth of Tesla shares and said the sale was conducted to pay for the acquisition of Twitter
09 November 2022 - 10:33
byAkriti Sharma and Hyunjoo Jin
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Elon Musk's photo is seen through a Twitter logo in this illustration from October 28 2022. Picture: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold $3.95bn worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, according to US regulatory filings, days after he completed his purchase of Twitter for $44bn.
Musk, whose net worth dropped below $200bn after investors dumped Tesla stock, unloaded 19.5-million shares between Friday and Tuesday, filings published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed.
The latest share sale leaves Musk with a stake of roughly 14% in Tesla, according to a Reuters calculation.
The purpose of the sale was not disclosed. The latest sale dump comes as analysts had widely expected Musk to sell additional Tesla shares to finance the Twitter deal.
Musk, the world’s richest man, had asserted in April he was done selling Tesla stock. Still, he went on to sell another $6.9bn worth Tesla shares in August and said the sale was conducted to pay for the social media platform. Musk had about $20bn in cash after selling a part of his stake in Tesla, including the sales made in 2021. This would have required him to raise an additional $2bn to $3bn to finance the takeover, according to a Reuters calculation.
Tesla has lost nearly half its market value and Musk’s net worth has slumped by $70bn since he bid for Twitter in April.
Twitter and Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Musk took over Twitter last in October and has engaged in drastic measures including sacking half the staff and a plan to charge for blue check verification marks.
The billionaire pledged to provide $46.5bn in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covered the $44bn price tag and the closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, committed to provide $13bn in debt financing.
Musk’s $33.5bn equity commitment included his 9.6% Twitter stake, which is worth $4bn, and the $7.1bn he had secured from equity investors, including Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Musk had tried to walk away from the deal in May, alleging that Twitter understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform. This led to a series of lawsuits between the two parties.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Elon Musk sells Tesla shares worth $4bn after saying in April he would sell no more
In August, he sold another $6.9bn worth of Tesla shares and said the sale was conducted to pay for the acquisition of Twitter
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold $3.95bn worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, according to US regulatory filings, days after he completed his purchase of Twitter for $44bn.
Musk, whose net worth dropped below $200bn after investors dumped Tesla stock, unloaded 19.5-million shares between Friday and Tuesday, filings published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed.
The latest share sale leaves Musk with a stake of roughly 14% in Tesla, according to a Reuters calculation.
The purpose of the sale was not disclosed. The latest sale dump comes as analysts had widely expected Musk to sell additional Tesla shares to finance the Twitter deal.
Musk, the world’s richest man, had asserted in April he was done selling Tesla stock. Still, he went on to sell another $6.9bn worth Tesla shares in August and said the sale was conducted to pay for the social media platform. Musk had about $20bn in cash after selling a part of his stake in Tesla, including the sales made in 2021. This would have required him to raise an additional $2bn to $3bn to finance the takeover, according to a Reuters calculation.
Tesla has lost nearly half its market value and Musk’s net worth has slumped by $70bn since he bid for Twitter in April.
Twitter and Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Musk took over Twitter last in October and has engaged in drastic measures including sacking half the staff and a plan to charge for blue check verification marks.
The billionaire pledged to provide $46.5bn in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covered the $44bn price tag and the closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, committed to provide $13bn in debt financing.
Musk’s $33.5bn equity commitment included his 9.6% Twitter stake, which is worth $4bn, and the $7.1bn he had secured from equity investors, including Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Musk had tried to walk away from the deal in May, alleging that Twitter understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform. This led to a series of lawsuits between the two parties.
Reuters
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