After a recent Twitter pole where Elon Musk asked his followers if he should sell 10 percent of his stake in the company to pay taxes, the edgelord CEO has started selling his personal Tesla holdings.
According to new filings with the Securities and Exchange commission published earlier this week, Musk has sold at least $5 billion worth of Tesla stock thus far. However, the few million shares sold are not even close to 10 percent, as such the filings are likely to keep coming.
What Is Really Behind Elon Musk’s Tesla Stock Sale?
The Tesla CEO is selling his shares after facing scrutiny over his wealth, even from elected officials. Musk has undergone some extreme criticism for not paying income taxes (since he doesn’t officially take a salary from Tesla) due to his compensation in stock awards.
Oregan Senator, Ron Wyden, has proposed a Billionaires Income Tax that would tax these wealth increases; This is what prompted musk to create the Twitter poll in the first place, which now evidently shows a resounding yes to the question asked.
While the billionaire CEO seems to find himself in the midst of a selloff of millions of shares of Tesla, he will have to pay upwards of 50 percent of that value in taxes. But, he will still end up with billions of dollars in his pocket when the sales are complete. Contrary to the notion of Musk being a man who professes as being cash poor, he will soon find himself in a situation where he will not only be exorbitantly wealthy on paper, but in a hugely tangible sense too.
