yunhap newsElon Musk sold 1.2 million Tesla shares for an average of $1,030 on the 13th (local time), earning $1.236 billion (about 1.458 trillion won), CNN reported.
As a result, Musk sold 6.4 million shares in the past week, worth 6.9 billion dollars (about 8,138.5 billion won).
However, the size of the sale is less than 4% of what Musk owns, and less than 3% if all options he can purchase are included.
Earlier, in a Twitter poll, Musk asked whether he should sell his 10% stake in Tesla, and 58% of respondents voted in favor. Since then, Tesla stock has plummeted 15.4% in the week.
A Twitter poll does not appear to be a reason for Musk’s stock sale, CNN explained. If he exercises 22.9 million stock options before August next year, he will have to pay about $10 billion in taxes.
Conversely, if the stock option is not exercised, the right to buy Tesla stock at $6.24 per share is lost. However, if the stock option is exercised, the federal tax rate is 40.8%. There is also the possibility of paying income tax in California, which has a top rate of 13.3%. He moved to Texas, where there is no income tax, but admitted that he would have to pay significant income taxes in California.
Musk’s stock sale will give Musk a 23.7% stake in Tesla.
