Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold shares amounting to about 3% of his stake in the electric-vehicle maker.
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Elon Musk has unloaded some $5 billion worth of Tesla shares, the company reported, after a Twitter poll held earlier this week advised him to sell some 10% of the company’s stock he owned.
According to regulatory filings, Musk exercised options for more than 2.2 million shares on Monday, then sold about 4.5 million shares in total over the subsequent days
The shares sold this week amount to about 3% of Musk’s stake in the electric-vehicle maker.
The options exercise was made according to a plan established in September that predates Musk’s stated intention to sell some of his shares, according to the filings. Part of the shares sold Monday were to cover associated tax liabilities.
Tesla (ticker TSLA) shares were up 2.7% in early trading Thursday. They had sunk 12% Tuesday after Musk announced the result of the Twitter (TWTR) poll, before recovering, up 5% Wednesday.
The last time Musk sold shares in Tesla was in 2016. The filings don’t indicate whether he intends to keep selling his stake in the short term or how he will go about fulfilling his pledge to dispose of another 7% of the company’s stock.
Write to Pierre Briançon at [email protected]
