Topline
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, offloaded $1.05 billion worth of Tesla stock, according to new regulatory filings Tuesday, passing the halfway point to meet his Twitter poll-backed promise to sell 10% of his stake in the electric vehicle company.
Key Facts
Musk sold around 934,000 shares for just over $1.05 billion, according to the regulatory filings.
The sale will cover taxes after Musk exercised options to buy 2.15 million shares, the filings show.
The billionaire has sold nearly $10 billion worth of Tesla stock—some 9.2 million shares—this month since asking Twitter users to vote on whether he should sell 10% of his stake in the electric car maker.
To reach the 10% threshold, Forbes estimated Musk will need to sell a total of around 17 million shares, with his recent sale pushing him past the halfway point.
Key Background
While Musk’s tweets have been known to move markets—something he has faced regulatory scrutiny for—he vowed to let Twitter dictate the future of some of his Tesla stake. Overwhelmingly, users of the social media platform voted for the billionaire to sell 10% of his stake and Musk has been regularly offloading chunks of stock since. Prior to the selling spree, Musk had only offloaded Tesla shares on two occasions, selling around $24 million worth in 2010 and around $593 million worth in 2016. In October, Musk became the first person to ever be worth more than $300 billion, though his worth has settled just below this milestone.
Big Number
$1.1 trillion. That’s Tesla’s market value Wednesday morning.
Further Reading
Here’s How Much Elon Musk Would Pay In Taxes If He Sells 10% Of His Tesla Stock (Forbes)
Here’s How Much Tesla Stock Elon Musk Sold This Week (Forbes)