Survey toll: Musk sells $ 5 billion after Twitter survey of Tesla shares | Automotive News

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, sold $ 5 billion in Tesla shares after his Twitter followers voted in favor of downloading some of the shares.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., unloaded $ 5 billion on the electric car maker shortly after resuming the social media discussion about the tax treatment of millionaire shares.

So far the richest person in the world has thrown more than 4.5 million shares this week, according to regulatory filings. These were the first sales he made in more than five years.

Musk, who often sparks controversy on Twitter, created a storm with a survey asking if he should sell a portion of Tesla’s stake over the weekend. Although his proposal figured to be related to the multi-million dollar tax avoidance debate, documents released on Wednesday show that some transactions were arranged in advance in mid-September, a few weeks before the poll. He also did not mention in the tweets that before August, when they expire, he has millions of share options to implement.

The poll found a decisive vote to sell Musk and Tesla shares fell 16% in the first two days of the week. Shares eased those declines on Wednesday, up 4.3%, up 2.5% from the start of regular trading on Thursday.

On Monday, Musk unloaded about $ 1.1 billion worth of shares that day, which he also used to pay income taxes on equity opportunities, the two dossiers showed. On Tuesday and Wednesday, he made the rest of the sales. The dossiers specifying these provisions did not indicate that they were planned in advance.

The documents do not clarify whether Musk’s weekend Twitter poll had anything to do with his decision to make some or all of the transactions, or whether he will continue to sell until he meets the 10% limit. To get there, it would have to remove approximately 17 million shares, and even more so if it includes options that can be realized throughout its participation.

The opportunities that Musk took advantage of came from a grand prize he received in 2012. Taxes on these transactions are usually covered by immediately throwing away some newly acquired shares. Earlier this year, Musk publicly said he would likely take advantage of the 2012 awards opportunities in the near future.

Opportunity exercises and related sales may have been conducted regardless of the outcome of the Twitter survey, given that they were conducted in accordance with a pre-established plan. But the terms of these plans have not been made public, and executives have ample opportunity to cancel or change them at any time.

The Twitter referendum hit Tesla shares on Monday and Tuesday, removing $ 50 billion from Musk’s estate.

The billionaire last sold the shares in 2016, taking advantage of the opportunity and liquidating some of the newly purchased shares to cover $ 590 million in income taxes.

In a Nov. 6 survey announcement, Musk wrote that “a lot of unrealized gains have been made in the past as a way to avoid taxes, so I’m proposing to sell 10% of my Tesla shares.” Nearly 58% of the 3.5 million votes were in favor of a sale.

Musk, 50, is the richest person in the world with a fortune of nearly $ 300 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

(Updates the shares in the fourth paragraph, adds the tax discussion in the first paragraph)
–With the help of Andrew Heathcote, Dana Hull and Joanna Ossinger.