Updated Nov 11, 2021 - Economy

Elon Musk sells almost $5 billion of Tesla shares

Yacob Reyes

Photo: Visual China Group via Getty Images

Elon Musk has sold almost $5 billion in Tesla stock during a spate of transactions, CNBC first reported Wednesday evening.

Why it matters: The sale follows Musk's posting of an informal poll on Twitter Saturday, asking his followers whether he should sell about 10% of his shares in Tesla and after the company's stock fell 12% on Tuesday.

While Musk had tweeted that he would "abide by the results" of Saturday's poll on whether to sell about 10% of his shares, financial filings reveal that he knew some of his stock were for sale, per CNBC.
He sold the stock in an effort to "satisfy tax obligations related to an exercise of stock options," according to CNBC.

The big picture: Bloomberg first reported on Tuesday that Musk had sold over $1.1 billion of Tesla stock.

Subsequent financial filings to the SEC out Wednesday evening showed that his trust sold over 3.5 million shares valued at roughly $3.88 billion.
"Those transactions were not marked as 10b5, meaning they were not scheduled sales," CNBC notes.

Of note: A company filing with the SEC shows that Elon Musk's brother, Kimbal Musk, dumped shares last Friday, Axios' Kate Marino notes.

Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include details of Musk's later transactions.

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Elon Musk sells almost $5 billion of Tesla shares

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