Elon Musk just sold 4.4 million Tesla shares. Unsurprisingly, the CEO of the car brand is financing the takeover of the social network Twitter by reselling part of its stock market shares. 99% of the billionaire’s fortune depends on Tesla’s stock market price.
Elon Musk finally got his hands on Twitter. The richest man in the world is going to shell out 41 billion euros, or 44 billion dollars, to buy the social network. Obviously, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX does not have this amount in cash.
Even before Twitter executives accepted his offer, Elon Musk began raising the money through a loan from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding. The billionaire’s personal contribution will not exceed the 21 billion dollars.
Elon Musk sells part of his Tesla shares to buy Twitter
To constitute this contribution, Elon Musk has just sold just over 4.4 million Tesla shares, reveals an official document published by the constable of the United States stock exchange. Like most billionaires, the bulk of Musk’s fortune is made up of stocks. According to Forbes, the entrepreneur’s fortune is 99% based on the shares of his car company.
The leader of Tesla has very little cash. The businessman has indeed negotiated advantageous remuneration in the form of bonuses with the board of directors of Tesla. Concretely, Musk pockets 1% group shares when the price exceeds a certain threshold and the turnover reaches a new level. This is why the vast majority of its income is related to the resale of shares. For the record, Musk has already sold more than $3 billion worth of Tesla stock last year following a poll posted on Twitter.
Thanks to the sale of his Tesla shares, Elon Musk raised around $4 billion. The richest man in the world owns another 168 million shares in its portfolio through a trust. On his Twitter account, the eccentric entrepreneur pledged to stop selling shares for the time being. Musk is probably aware that these massive resales are scaring away shareholders and investors.
