Tesla CEO Elon Musk pawned off another $687 million worth of Tesla shares Thursday after offloading $5 billion of his stake in the company...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk pawned off another $687 million worth of Tesla shares Thursday after offloading $5 billion of his stake in the company in two separate transactions earlier this week, following the CEO's promise to sell $25 billion worth of the stock.
The string of sales comes less than a week after Musk's much-publicized Twitter poll where he asked followers if he should sell his $250 billion stake in the electric-car maker to pay President Joe Biden's proposed 'billionaire's tax.'
In the Saturday post, the world's richest person and Tesla's top shareholder criticized the controversial new tax plan proposed by the president's administration, saying that he does not earn a salary from the company and his only source of income is stocks, and that the only way for him to pay taxes would be to sell some of his stake.
Musk, 50, who founded the car company in 2003, then declared to his 63.1 million followers that he would sell 10 percent of his shares - which would equate to roughly $25 billion - if they approved the move.
'Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock,' Musk, 50, wrote in the November 6 post.
The exec then implored his 63.1 million followers: 'Do you support this?'
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, 50, pawned off another $687 million worth of Tesla shares Friday, after offloading $5 billion of the stock earlier this week
They did - with more than 2 million of the 3.5 million social media users surveyed voting that he should, spurring the CEO's massive sell-off.
As of Friday, though, Musk's lightning-quick liquidation equates to just $5.8 billion - well short of the exec's promised $25 billion.
Musk's initial share sale this week - his first since 2016 - took place on Monday, or $1.1 billion worth of Tesla shares, SEC disclosures show.
However, the transaction was part of a pre-arranged trading plan set up on September 14, well before he posted the November 6 poll, the filings further reveal.
The subsequent $4 billion sell-off, though, on Tuesday and Wednesday, did not reference the pre-arranged plan and appears to be in response to the Twitter poll.
The string of sales comes less than a week after the Musk's much-publicized Twitter poll where he asked his 63.1 million followers if he should sell 10 percent of his $250 billion stake - which would equate to $25 billion - in the electric-car maker to pay President Joe Biden 's proposed 'billionaire's tax'
After the results indicated users were in favor of the billionaire selling off some of his Tesla shares, Musk since said he was 'prepared to accept either outcome'
Musk then sold another 639,737 shares on Thursday, according to SEC filings made public Friday morning - a sale that garnered the Tesla chief executive an estimated $687 million.
The shares were sold at prices ranging from around $1,056.03 to $1,104.15 in multiple transactions, the filings reveal.
Friday morning, Tesla shares slipped as the market opened, and were down nearly 3 percent since the previous day's close, to $1,032.00 as of 12:12 pm ET.
That brings the company's losses to more than 15 percent for the week.
Prior to the sales, Musk owned a stake of about 23 percent of the electric vehicle manufacturer, including stock options.
Musk had previously said he would have to exercise a large number of stock options in the next three months, which would create a big tax bill. Selling some of his stock could free up funds to pay the taxes.
Friday morning, Tesla shares slipped as the market opened, and were down nearly 3 percent since the previous day's close, to $1,032.00 as of 12:12 pm ET, bringing the company's losses to more than 15 percent for the week
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