Recent filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate that Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sold around $8.4 billion in Tesla shares. Records show he sold 4.4 million Tesla shares earlier in the week and another 5.2 million shares on Thursday, April 28. Altogether, the sales totaled 5.6% of Musk’s stake in Tesla.
Musk did not mention a reason for the sales or what he planned to do with the money, but it is most likely to assist in funding his planned purchase of Twitter. He has agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion, equivalent to around $54.20 per share.
Musk also agreed to a $21 billion equity commitment. Still, a source told Reuters that Musk “has been looking for partners to reduce his equity contribution to the deal” and said it is “far from certain such a partner will emerge.”
The purchase of Twitter will still require regulatory clearance and shareholder approval, but if Twitter takes another offer or cannot get shareholders to agree to the deal, the social media platform will have to pay Musk $1 billion. Alternatively, if Musk cannot find the required funding for the purchase, he will owe Twitter $1 billion.
Musk responded to a Twitter post about the sales, stating that “No further TSLA sales planned after today.” Possibly due to traders’ hesitation that Musk can secure the required funding for the purchase, shares of Tesla dropped 12% in the middle of the week before slightly bouncing back on Friday.
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