Tesla boss Elon Musk sold 7.92 million of Tesla shares worth approx 6.9 billion dollars, according to financial documents published Tuesday evening by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the American Consob). A decision, according to what Musk said, linked to the ongoing legal battle with Twitter. The richest man in the world responded in a series of tweets, saying he wanted to avoid an emergency stock sale should he be forced to complete the $ 44 billion Twitter acquisition, which he stepped away from. last month.
The transactions took place between August 5 and August 9, SEC documents reveal, following Tesla’s annual shareholders’ meeting held August 4, 2022 in Austin, Texas.
This wasn’t the first time Musk has been selling large amounts of Tesla stock. Recall that in April, according to SEC documents, Musk sold a block of shares in the automaker for a value of about 8.4 billion dollars. Earlier this year, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX said on social media that he has “no more planned Tesla stock sales” after April 28.
Both stocks closed lower in Tuesday’s session, Tesla shedding 2.5% to $ 850 per share, while Twitter posted a more moderate 0.20% decline to $ 42.23 per share.
After the latest Tesla stock sales, some Twitter users asked the famous CEO if he had finished selling shares in the electric vehicle sector and if he plans to buy back stock in the future.
Musk replied: “Yup. In the event (hopefully unlikely) that Twitter forces me to close this deal and some equity partners withdraw at the last minute, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla shares. “
Musk did not specify which equity partners he feared would abandon plans to finance the eventual purchase of Twitter.
It is worth mentioning that in early May, Musk found funding for the purchase of the social network from 19 different partners including Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia, Qatar Holding, the venture capital firm Sequoia. , the DFJ growth fund, Vy Capital and the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Musk also said he would buy back some of his shares if he didn’t complete the Twitter acquisition.
The legal battle with Twitter
Last week Twitter accused Elon Musk of creating a “new set of excuses“To avoid honoring the $ 44 billion (or $ 54.20 per share) deal for the acquisition of social media, calling his recently presented objections” implausible and contrary to the facts. ” After Twitter sued Musk last month to crack the deal, the South African-born billionaire filed a counter-suit against the company last week. Twitter made public its objections to Tesla’s chief executive lawsuit Thursday in a court statement shared by Bret Taylor, chairman of the social media group’s board. The legal discussion between the two sides will take place in October.