Despite the total assets liquidated thus far, Elon Musk still has as many as 169 million Tesla shares.
Elon Musk, the renowned Chief Executive Officer of electric vehicle maker, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) has sold another $1.05 billion worth of shares according to financial filings published on Tuesday. The shares liquidation brings the total liquidation by Musk and his Trust to a total of $9.85 billion in Tesla stock this month, featuring the $6.9 billion he sold the week of Nov. 10 and another $1.9 billion he sold on November 15 and November 16.
As reported by CNBC, a good part of the shares that were liquidated was to sort tax obligations that come with the exercise of stock options. Despite the total assets liquidated thus far, Elon Musk still has as many as 169 million shares in the electric automaker. The liquidations did not impact the shares of Tesla which closed up at 0.63% to $1,116.00 on Wednesday. The shares are also trading in the green in the After Hours session at 0.13% to $1117.50 per share.
Selling the shares was somewhat predetermined by a Twitter poll the Billionaire conducted earlier this month, seeking opinion on whether he should sell 10% of his stock. More than 3 million of the Tesla boss’s followers participated in the poll, with over 57.9% supporting the idea of shares liquidation.
The broad sell-off of the shares was as Elon Musk promised when he pushed out the poll, saying “I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes.”
Elon Musk Fulfilling Tax Obligations Through Tesla Stock Liquidation
As the CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX, Elon Musk does not earn a salary from any source, except through stock exercise. Earlier this year, reports of how much American billionaires avoid their civic obligations in terms of tax obligations in the name of unrealized tax gains run into billions of dollars. The report raised eyebrows as of then.
The Feds are keen on turning the tides around with Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen proposing that the billionaires’ unrealized tax gains should be subjected to some form of taxation. The move will impose long-term capital gains on tradable assets, whether or not the holders sell them. The proposal will affect hundreds of billionaires across the US, including Musk, whose portfolio includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
As Musk receives no salary, liquidating some of his shares is the only way he says he can fulfill this obligation, a move he has to make before his option to sell off the stock expires in the first quarter of next year.
Tesla has been seeing very bright days in the last quarter of this year as the Palo Alto, California-based firm entered into the trillionaires club earlier this month. The influence of the company’s share growth has largely kept Elon Musk on the chart as the richest man on the planet.
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