3 yıl önce

Musk sells Tesla shares worth $4B, presumably for Twitter deal

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, tweeted that he doesn't plan any further sales of the company's shares.

Reuters Archive

Musk's net worth is $268 billion, according to Forbes.

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has sold $4 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, in sales likely aimed at helping finance his planned purchase of Twitter Inc.

He sold 4.4 million shares on Tuesday and Wednesday, equating to 2.6% of his stake in the company, US securities filings showed on Thursday.

Musk said in a tweet that there are "no further TSLA sales planned after today."

This is his 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.

The sale came after Musk on Monday clinched a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion cash in a transaction that will shift control of the platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world's richest person.

Concern among Tesla investors

As part of his deal to buy Twitter, Musk said he would provide a $21 billion equity commitment.

It is not clear how he will cover the remaining $17 billion of equity financing, having covered $4 billion with sold shares. Musk holds a 43.61 percent stake in unlisted rocket company SpaceX that is reportedly valued at $100 billion.

He has been looking for partners to reduce his equity contribution to the deal, a person familiar with the matter said, adding that it is far from certain such a partner will emerge.

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.

Some traders have fretted this week that Musk may not have enough money sitting around to fund his $21 billion cash contribution and could walk away from the deal, weighing on Twitter shares.

Tesla shares have fallen nearly 20 percent since Musk disclosed his over 9 percent stake in Twitter on April 4.

Investors have expressed concern that Musk may have to sell Tesla shares 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. He had already borrowed against around half of his Tesla shares.