Topline
Elon Musk sold nearly $3.6 billion worth of Tesla shares this week, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from this week, selling his stock while it trades at a notably reduced price and further eroding his former position as the richest person in the world.
Elon Musk has sold nearly $40 billion worth of Tesla stocks in the past 12 months.
Key Facts
According to the SEC filing, Musk sold around 22 million Tesla shares between Monday and Wednesday.
The filing doesn’t mention a reason behind the latest share sales, which is Musk’s second tranche of sales since taking over Twitter in late October.
This brings the total value of Tesla shares sold by Musk in the past 12 months to nearly $40 billion.
In the past, Musk has told Twitter staff he sold Tesla shares in order to “save” Twitter.
Tesla’s stock was down 1.34% in premarket trading early on Wednesday.
Big Number
60.79%. That’s the percentage by which Tesla’s stock value has slumped since the start of 2022.
Forbes Valuation
According to our estimates, Musk’s net worth stands at $174 billion, which has nose-dived from a peak of $320 billion in November 2021, largely due to the poor performance of Tesla’s stock. Earlier this week, Musk ceded the title of the world’s richest man to Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH.
Key Background
The continued decline in Tesla’s stock comes at a time when Musk’s attention has increasingly been diverted toward his latest acquisition, Twitter. Last month, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives who closely tracks Tesla warned that Musk’s controversial antics with Twitter are tarnishing the Tesla brand. The sentiment was also echoed earlier this week by Loup Capital’s Gene Munster who told CNBC “what Elon is doing on Twitter is damaging the [Tesla] brand.” The billionaire has courted multiple controversies in recent days as he has targeted people who he labels as “woke” and “leftists.” According to a Morning Consult poll from last month, Tesla’s favorability among Democrats dropped to 10.4% from 24.8% in October while it rose from 20% to 26.5% among Republicans.
Further Reading
Elon Musk Sold More Than $3.5 Billion Worth of Tesla Shares (Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk Has Sold $3.9 Billion Of Tesla Stock Since Friday (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/12/15/musk-sells-nearly-36-billion-in-tesla-stock-moves-further-away-from-richest-person-title/