Musk sells 22Mln Tesla shares worth ≈ $3.6Bln: US commission
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports that Elon Musk makes the second large sale since his acquisition of Twitter in October.
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In November, Musk sold almost $4 billion worth of shares of Tesla stock, according to SEC filings.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold almost 22 million of the electric vehicle company's shares worth almost $3.6 billion from December 12-14, the second large sale since his acquisition of Twitter in October, according to the information provided by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.
Musk currently owns more than 423.6 million Tesla stakes, which is equivalent to 13.4 percent of the company's shares, the document said.
During the last three trade sessions from December 12-14, Tesla's shares have depreciated, losing 12.4 percent of their value; the price of one share dropped from $179.05 to $156.8 at the close of trading before the decline, according to the document.
In November, Musk sold almost $4 billion worth of shares of Tesla stock, according to SEC filings. This came just over a week after he closed his $44 billion purchase of social media giant Twitter.
Looking for ways to pay for the Twitter debt which reportedly amounts to $13 billion, Musk sold $15.5 billion worth of Tesla shares and even went on to include an idea to charge verified accounts 8$ a month.
Adding fuel to the fire, the billionaire said he did not find it appropriate in the present macroeconomic conditions to take a new loan secured by Tesla shares to ease Twitter's debt burden, according to media reports.
Although Musk pulled Twitter off the stock market, he pulled the company into heavy debt, which is a risky choice for a money-losing business.
It is worth noting that immediately upon taking office, Musk fired Twitter's top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, and he also laid off the company's board of directors, rendering himself the sole board member.
His changes have been so impactful that according to NBC News, an engineering manager vomited after being informed he would be firing hundreds of employees. Moreover, Musk canceled the work-from-home policy that was implemented after Covid and demanded that employees come back to the office and work 40 hours a week or be fired. Per Bloomberg, the Tesla-Twitter mogul also expected 80-hour work weeks as opposed to the regular 40.
Twitter employees may face “difficult times ahead” if new money doesn't start rolling in, now-owner of the social media platform, Elon Musk, warned in November.
The platform has been displaying continuous losses of high-level leaders in charge of data privacy, cybersecurity, and regulation compliance - such as Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth.
Losses also included chief privacy officer, Damien Kieran, and chief information security officer Lea Kissner, who tweeted: “I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter.” According to an executive, Twitter was slashing approximately 50% of its workforce.
