Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sold $4 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, a US securities filing showed Thursday, April 28, 2022. Potentially intended to help finance its planned purchase of Twitter Inc.
Mr Musk said in a tweet that “there are no plans for further TSLA sales after today.” According to the filing, he sold 4.4 million shares on Tuesday and Wednesday, which equates to his 2.6% stake in the company.
The sale took place on Monday after Mr. Musk A deal has been made to buy Twitter for $ 44 billion Cash in a transaction that would transfer control of a social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest man. According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth is $268 billion.
As part of the deal, Mr. Musk said he would provide an equity commitment of $21 billion.
It is not clear how he will cover the remaining $17 billion in equity financing. Mr Musk holds a 43.61% stake in unlisted rocket company SpaceX, which is reportedly valued at $100 billion.
find a partner
Mr Musk is looking for partners to reduce his equity contributions in the deal, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that it is not certain that such a partner will emerge.
This is his first Tesla stock sale since selling $16.4 billion worth of shares in November and December after Twitter users voted about selling their 10% stake in the electric carmaker.
Mr. Musk said on Twitter that he would pay more than $11 billion in taxes in 2021 because of his exercise of stock options expiring this year.
Some traders have been outraged this week that Mr Musk may not have enough money for his $21 billion cash contribution and walk away from the deal, weighing in on Twitter shares.
Tesla shares have fallen nearly 20% since Mr Musk disclosed his more than 9% stake in Twitter on April 4. Investors have expressed concern that Mr. Musk may have to sell shares of Tesla to fund his equity contribution to the takeover offer.
As part of the Twitter deal, Musk also took out a $12.5 billion margin loan tied to his Tesla stock. It had already borrowed against about half of its Tesla shares.