2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

News> Business> Content
Published: 15:04, August 10, 2022
Musk sells Tesla shares, cites potential forced Twitter deal
By Reuters
Published:15:04, August 10, 2022 By Reuters

In this file photo taken on April 14, 2022 released by TED Conferences shows Tesla chief Elon Musk speaking during an interview with head of TED Chris Anderson (out of frame) at the TED2022. (RYAN LASH / TED CONFERENCES, LLC / AFP)

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sold US$6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, saying the funds could be used to finance a potential Twitter deal if he loses a legal battle with the social media platform.

"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," he said in a tweet late on Tuesday.

Musk in early July tore up his April 25 agreement to buy Twitter for US$44 billion. Twitter has sued Musk to force him to complete the transaction, dismissing his claim that he was misled about the number of spam accounts on the social media platform as buyer's remorse in the wake of a plunge in technology stocks. The two sides head to trial on Oct 17.

In other comments on Twitter on Tuesday, Musk said "yes" when asked if he was done selling Tesla stock, and also said he would buy Tesla stock again if the Twitter deal does not close

"Street will read through this poker move that chances of Twitter deal more likely now," Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, tweeted.

In other comments on Twitter on Tuesday, Musk said "yes" when asked if he was done selling Tesla stock, and also said he would buy Tesla stock again if the Twitter deal does not close.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

READ MORE: Twitter rejects Musk's claims that he was hoodwinked

Musk, the world's richest person, sold US$8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares in April and had said at the time there were no further sales planned. But since then, legal experts had suggested that if Musk is forced to complete the acquisition or settle the dispute with a stiff penalty, he was likely to sell more Tesla shares.

Musk sold about 7.92 million shares between Aug 5 and Aug 9, according to multiple filings. He now owns 155.04 million Tesla shares or just under 15 percent of the automaker according to Reuters calculations.

The latest sales bring total Tesla stock sales by Musk to about US$32 billion in less than one year.

ALSO READ: Twitter hits back at Musk, says no deal obligations breached

Tesla shares have risen nearly 15 percent since the automaker reported better-than-expected earnings on July 20, also helped by the Biden administration's climate bill that, if passed, would lift the cap on tax credits for electric vehicles.

Musk also teased on Tuesday that he could start his own social media platform. When asked by a Twitter user if he had thought about creating his own platform if the deal didn't close, he replied: "X.com"


Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !