Musk sells Tesla shares worth $8.5 billion ahead of Twitter takeover

April 29 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk has sold $8.5 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, according to U.S. securities filings, in sales likely aimed at financing its plan to buy Twitter Inc (TWTR .N).

Musk said in a tweet on Thursday that there were “no further TSLA sales expected after today.” He sold about 9.6 million shares this week, according to filings Thursday and Friday, equivalent to 5.6% of his stake in the company.

It was unclear whether all of Musk’s recent Tesla stock sales had been reported. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

The sale came after Musk on Monday reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion in cash in a deal that will transfer control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and leaders. worlds to the richest person in the world. Musk’s net worth is $268 billion, according to Forbes. Read more

As part of the deal, Musk said he would provide an equity commitment of $21 billion.

It was not immediately clear how the billionaire would raise the remaining $12.5 billion in equity funding. Musk has a 43.61% stake in unlisted rocket company SpaceX, which is reportedly valued at $100 billion.

Tesla shares were up about 5% in morning trading on Friday.

They’ve fallen about 20% since Musk disclosed a more than 9% stake in Twitter on April 4.

Musk has been looking for partners to reduce his capital contribution to the deal, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that it is far from certain such a partner will emerge.

It’s his first sale of Tesla stock since he sold $16.4 billion worth of stock in November and December after polling Twitter users about the sale of his 10% stake in the electric car manufacturer.

Musk said on Twitter that he will pay more than $11 billion in taxes in 2021 due to the exercise of stock options that expire this year.

Some traders worried this week that Musk may not have enough money to fund his $21 billion cash contribution and could pull out of the deal, weighing on Twitter shares. Read more

As part of Twitter’s funding deal, Musk secured commitments for $13 billion in secured loans against Twitter and a $12.5 billion margin loan tied to his Tesla stock.

Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco, Akriti Sharma and Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Jamie Freed and Anil D’Silva

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