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Topline
Tesla’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, who has been offloading billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock since last week, taunted Bernie Sanders on Twitter over the weekend after the U.S. senator repeated his calls for the wealthy to pay more in taxes.
Musk, the richest person in the world, got into a spat with Sen. Bernie Sanders over the billionaire … [+]
Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images
Key Facts
“We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair shares. Period,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted on Saturday, reiterating his stance that the U.S. government should hike taxes on America’s richest people.
Taking aim at the 80-year-old Sanders, Musk responded on Sunday by saying, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.”
“Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word . . . ” Musk taunted, saying in a follow-up tweet that Sanders “is a taker, not a maker.”
The Tesla chief, as the richest person in the world—worth more than $264 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates—has become a central figure in the ongoing billionaire tax debate in Washington.
Musk has been offloading shares of Tesla since last week, after pledging to abide by the results of a Twitter poll and sell 10% of his stake—though he hasn’t reached that mark yet.
The Tesla billionaire has so far sold nearly $7 billion worth of the electric vehicle maker’s stock, causing Tesla shares to fall around 15% last week.
What To Watch For:
Shares of Tesla fell over 4% to around $988 per share as of 11:00 a.m. EST on Monday, lowering the company’s market cap below $1 trillion.
Surprising Fact:
Before last week, Musk had only sold Tesla stock twice since taking the company public in 2010.
Key Background:
It’s not the first time that Musk, who has become a target for supporters of a higher wealth tax, spoke out against taxing the rich. Last month, he criticized the Democratic proposal for an annual tax on billionaires’ investment gains as a way of funding President Joe Biden’s social spending plan.
Further Reading:
Shares Of Rivian Continue To Move Higher After Elon Musk Throws Shade (Forbes)
Elon Musk Dumps More Tesla Stock—Lifting Total Sales To Nearly $6 Billion This Week (Forbes)
Elon Musk Sold $5 Billion In Tesla Stock This Week As Shares Plunged Following Twitter Poll (Forbes)