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Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that he has sold about $5 billion worth of Tesla shares to meet his tax obligations after exercising options on a large slice of stock.
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Musk sold approximately 4.5 million shares between Monday and Wednesday. Shares of Tesla were trading at $1,067.95 on Wednesday, which would put the shares at about $4.8 billion, though some were sold for slightly higher prices.
In the filings, Mr. Musk said he sold “only” about a million shares to cover his taxes on the 2,154,572 shares he bought at $6.24 each. These shares, which he acquired for a total of $13.4 million, were instantly valued at approximately $2.3 billion. Later on Wednesday, it announced that another 3.6 million shares had been sold.
Mr. Musk owns about 17 percent of Tesla’s shares, or about $180 billion. Tesla recently passed $1 trillion in market valuation.
Over the weekend, Mr. Musk Posted a poll on Twitter He asks his followers if he should sell 10 percent of his stock and cites a political debate about whether the richest Americans should be taxed on their wealth rather than their income. He said it would fit whatever respondents chose, and about 58 percent said they would sell.
Regardless of the survey, the disclosures showed that Mr. Musk had drawn up a plan in September to sell shares while buying options. Mr. Musk has more than 20 million stock options worth approximately $30 billion expiring in August. Many of these options are unlikely to qualify for preferential tax treatment, meaning they could owe billions of dollars in tax if they all apply.
Shares of Tesla fell 16 percent in two days after the Twitter post, but gained 4.3 percent before Mr Musk announced the transaction on Wednesday. Shares of Tesla rose in aftermarket trading after their announcement.
Stephen Gandel contributing reporting.
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