Elon Musk sells off almost $7 billion of Tesla stock despite Twitter issues

Despite the uncertainties of the impending Twitter deal, Elon Musk brazenly sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla stock. The billionaire’s goal for selling Tesla shares is to avoid a firesale if he is forced to buy Twitter.

The Tesla CEO also admits he might need backup funds if he loses his legal battle over Twitter’s acquisition. In July, Musk dropped off buying the social media platform. This resulted in Twitter filing a lawsuit demanding that he needs to finish the deal. The trial will start in October in Delaware. 

Legal experts foresee it will be tough for Musk to win the case. As he already signed an agreement to acquire the company. He is now left with only one option. He can offer Twitter a settlement to avoid the demand of buying Twitter for $44 billion. 

I don’t just make up #s. Over three days Elon sold $6.9B in $TSLA shares. Since April, he has sold $15.4B in TSLA shares. At $51.29/share for $TWTR, @elonmusk doesn’t have to sell more TSLA shares. Assuming $7.1B in 3P equity is still in place, funding is secured. pic.twitter.com/BQqiKPSOrT

— Gary Black (@garyblack00) August 10, 2022

A law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, Anat Alon-Beck, cited his insights about this legal issue. “I think he realizes that he will lose or be forced to pay not just hefty legal fees but also damages to the company. So I think that these are signs that he does intend to settle sometime soon.”

The business tycoon has already given more than $30 billion of his own money to finance the deal. On top of this are the other funds from his associates, including Binance, tech mogul Larry Ellison, and the Qatar state investment fund. The fund for buying Twitter totals $7 billion. 

After April 28 this year, the SpaceX CEO also tweeted that he had “no further TSLA sales planned.” But according to SEC records, the billionaire was already selling a block of his shares in his electric car maker that week.

No further TSLA sales planned after today

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2022

Tesla Stock Sales

His sales transactions started between Aug. 5 and Aug.9. According to multiple filings, Musk sold $7.92m of Tesla stock. His own Tesla shares were now down to $155m, below 15% of Teslas. 

Although the current stock sales brought Musk down to $32 billion in less than a year, he is still ahead of Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest man. According to a Bloomberg index, he is still worth $250 billion. 

Yes.

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.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2022

Furthermore, on Tuesday, after he sold the Tesla stocks, Tesla promoters and fans threw him almost the same questions. They asked him if he was done selling the shares of Tesla. And if he is also planning to repurchase them in the future.

The SpaceX CEO replied, “Yes. 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.”

However, Musk didn’t completely specify which equity partners might abandon their plans of financing for the Twitter acquisition. In May. He had consolidated with 19 different partners to finance his buyout plans.

Moreover, he confirmed in his tweet that he would repurchase some of his shares if he wouldn’t have to push through with the Twitter buyout. Musk also added that if ever the Twitter deal won’t transpire, he will consider creating his own social media platform.

Meanwhile, Tesla shares dropped almost flat hours after the news of the sales broke. Tesla ended at $850 before Musk’s Tesla stock sales of nearly $7 billion were revealed in public through the SEC filings.