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Musk Sells $4 Bn Tesla Shares After Twitter Takeover

The shares in Tesla are down by 50 per cent after this development

According to regulatory disclosures of Security and Shares Commission, Elon Musk has sold almost $4 billion in Tesla Inc. which amounts to 9.5 million in share numbers. Prior to this, Musk owned 25 per cent shares in Tesla in the form of stocks and options. This development comes days after completing the $44 billion purchase of Twitter. The deal was closed in October 2022 with backing from a wide range of friends and institutions in the form of equity and debt. Earlier this year, on August 9, 2022 Musk tweeted he was through selling Tesla shares to fund a possible Twitter acquisition. He said, “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, who has become the world’s wealthiest person thanks in large part to his stake in Tesla, has sold more than $19 billion worth of the electric-vehicle maker’s stock this year. He said after doing so in April and in August that he wasn’t planning additional sales. Musk late last month completed his acquisition of Twitter after agreeing to pay $54.20 for each share he didn’t already own. He provided $33.5 billion in equity financing to pay for the deal, though had lined up co-investors, according to disclosures. The takeover that saw Twitter go private also involved $13 billion in debt, the regulatory filings state. The shares in Tesla are down by 50 per cent after this development.