Elon Musk continues with the massive sale of Tesla shares
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has executed a new sale of shares in the automotive company valued at $1.01 billion. According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the tycoon offloaded 934,091 shares with the primary goal of meeting his tax obligations arising from the exercise of stock options on 2.1 million shares.
Since November 8, Musk has maintained intense stock market activity, executing options on 10.7 million shares and selling 10.1 million shares, representing a total value of 10.9 billion dollars. Following these moves, the businessman still holds a pending purchase option on nearly 10 million shares at a price of 6.24 dollars each, which has an expiration date of August 2022.
The origin of the decision
This series of transactions had its starting point after a poll conducted by Musk himself on his Twitter account on November 6. In that post, he asked his followers if he should divest 10% of his stake in the company, promising to abide by the result. The inquiry arose in a context where the U.S. government was proposing new taxes for billionaires, intended to fund social programs.
57.9% of the 3.5 million participants in the poll voted in favor of the proposal, after which the Tesla founder began to divest part of his shares in the company.
A historical heritage
Despite these sales, Elon Musk’s financial position remains at unprecedented levels. The co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX has achieved notable economic milestones recently:
- Musk has become the first person in history to surpass $300 billion in net worth.
- His fortune experienced a significant increase of $13.4 billion in a single day, reaching a total of $307 billion.
- The growth has been exponential: at the beginning of October his fortune was valued at $190.5 billion, while in April 2020 he had $24.6 billion.
The meteoric rise in the valuation of his companies has established Musk as the undisputed leader in the ranking of the world’s largest fortunes, consolidating his influence in both the technology sector and global financial markets.
