Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to legal filings published Tuesday, amid a high-stakes legal battle with Twitter over a $44 billion buyout deal. The Tesla CEO sold some 7.9 million shares between August 5 and 9, according to filings published on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website.
“In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock,” Musk, the world’s richest man wrote on Twitter late Tuesday.
Yes.
In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2022
Elon Musk Had Terminated The Twitter Deal Due to Allegedly Misleading Bot Calculations
Last month, Musk told Twitter he was killing the deal because he believed the social media company to be misleading in its bot calculations. However, over the weekend, the executive waffled a bit, tweeting: “If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.”
Musk also tweeted Tuesday evening that if the Twitter deal doesn’t close, he’ll buy back his Tesla shares. Perhaps he’ll wait until Tesla issues its three-to-one stock split, which Tesla shareholders approved last week, so he can buy them back on the cheap.
Elon Musk Has Sold Around $32 Billion Worth of Tesla Shares
Over the last ten months, Musk has sold around $32 billion worth of Tesla shares. Tesla shares were down 2.44% today but are trading relatively flat in after-hours, suggesting the stock sales are yet to affect Tesla’s share price. Tesla’s stock took a hit late last year when Musk sold off more than $16 billion worth of sales after polling his Twitter fans on whether he should trim his stake, a move that got him in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read more: Elon Musk Tweets Pakistan’s Viral Cricket Meme to Mock US Government
