Musk: ‘I won’t sell any more’
Twitter users increased by 16%
Sales growth rate in the first quarter is the lowest in 6 quarters
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he had no plans to sell any more Tesla shares after the 28th.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stock. It is to raise the necessary funds before acquiring social media Twitter.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 29th (local time), Musk reportedly sold more than 9.6 million shares of Tesla stock. On the 26th and 28th of this month, the stake was sold at 820 to 1,000 dollars per share.
Musk’s partial sale of Tesla’s stake began the day after Twitter accepted Musk’s takeover offer. Musk said he would buy Twitter for $44 billion ($54.2 per share). On the 21st, Musk announced that it would finance the acquisition through three methods: a bank loan ($13 billion), a Tesla stock-backed loan ($12.5 billion), and equity capital ($12 billion).
Musk tweeted on the 28th that he would no longer sell Tesla stock after today. It seems to be conscious of the backlash from Tesla investors.
Twitter announced on the previous day that its revenue for the first quarter was $1.2 billion (about 1.5 trillion won), up 16% from the same period last year. This is slightly below the average market estimate of $1.23 billion compiled by Bloomberg. Sales growth was the lowest in the sixth quarter. “The war in Ukraine has slowed growth in advertising business,” Twitter said.
Earnings per share (EPS) came in at 4 cents, slightly higher than the 3 cents Refinitiv had forecast. Monthly active users reached 229 million, up 16% from a year ago.
Twitter shares closed at $49.11 on the 28th, up 1.09% from the previous day. It’s below the price Musk agreed to buy Twitter. Today’s earnings announcement could be the last announcement as a publicly traded company, CNBC reported.
Reporter Hyun-woo Oh ohw@hankyung.com
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