In an effort to accumulate cash ahead of a trial that could force him to follow through on a deal to acquire social media company Twitter, Elon Musk recently sold Tesla stock worth $6.9 billion.
According to regulatory filings, the Tesla CEO sold about 7.92 million shares in the last three days of trading. Still owning nearly 15% of the electric car maker, Musk tweeted he was done selling and intends to buy Tesla shares back if the Twitter deal doesn’t close.
Musk wrote, “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.”
Tesla went up 3% to $875.51, while Twitter climbed 3.2% to $44.19 at 9:50am Wednesday in New York.
Musk has now offloaded around $32 billion worth of Tesla shares since November 2021. Four months ago, the world’s wealthiest person said he no longer plans to sell any stock and has tried since then to terminate his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. The social media company opted to sue Musk to force him to go through with the deal, and now a trial has been scheduled on October.
Strategist at Saxo Capital Markets Pte in Singapore Charu Chanana believes Musk is likely taking advantage of Tesla shares rebounding 35% since late May. He said, “He is cashing up for Twitter. The bear market rally has started to falter, and further repricing of Fed expectations could mean more pain for equities ahead, especially in tech.”
Elon Musk’s $250 billion fortune is the largest in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, even though his wealth has dropped by around $20 billion this year as Tesla’s stock has declined.
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