He also stated that he would use part of the proceeds to cover his tax obligations after he exercised options on a large proportion of stock. Mr. Musk sold approximately 4.5 million shares in a span of three days.

This is according to the filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The stock’s sales closed at 1067.95 USD, and this valued the shares at around 4.8 billion USD. However, some of the shares were sold for slightly higher prices. 

Meanwhile, if you are interested in investing in the stock market, you should consider using a reliable stockbroker.

For example, if you are in South Africa, you can look for the best trading app for beginners in South Africa if you are just getting started. Furthermore, you should ensure you choose the trading apps as per your trading objectives. 

Musk’s Twitter Poll

Initially, Musk had asked his 62.8 million Twitter followers whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock. He also assured his followers that he would respect the poll’s results. In the Twitter poll, around 58% of the over 3.5 million respondents supported him to sell.

After that, reports revealed that Tesla stock started falling as investors reacted to Elon Musk’s Twitter post. 

The billionaire Tesla Chief Executive is regarded as one of the wealthiest persons in the world thanks to his holdings in the EV company. The company’s share price has soared 190% in the past 12 months and a whopping 3100% in the last five years. 

Elon Musk put out the Twitter poll in relation to the debate whether the richest Americans were giving Caesar what belongs to him. Congress was considering taxing billionaires’ unrealized investment gains in an attempt to address the issue. 

In this regard, Musk tweeted that the only way for him to pay his taxes was to sell stock. He also argued that he does not receive a cash salary or bonus for his corporate responsibilities at Tesla and SpaceX. 

What the Experts Think

AJ Bell’s analyst Russ Mould claimed that Musk’s Twitter poll signaled that he was going to dump the stock market. This is what is referred to as a share overhang. Moreover, the analyst claimed that this move would force the share price down.     

Mould also claimed that Musk is filthy rich and would care less if his actions led to Tesla’s price falling a bit.

Nevertheless, Mould suggested that Musk had a responsibility to act in the interest of his shareholders, which he hadn’t done with this current move. On the other hand, the share price did not fall as many would expect. Perhaps it is because investors were taking Musk’s comments with a pinch of salt.

This is because the CEO had made remarks before that were backtracked. For instance, there was a time he claimed that Tesla would start accepting Bitcoin as payment, but the company later backtracked on the plan.