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Thursday, December 15, 2022
CEO of Twitter Elon Musk disclosed sales of another 22 million shares of his stock in Tesla Motors, worth about USD3.6 billion through a form filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission December 15, despite repeatedly assuring investors he wouldn’t.
The sales, which took place across three days from December 12–14, was Musk’s second major offloading since purchasing the social media giant on October 28, for pre-tax proceeds of altogether approximately $22.93 billion, according to research firm VerityData.
Musk, who also owns the carmaker, had previously told his followers on social media “no further TSLA [Tesla] sales planned” after April 28.
Many Tesla investors are furious at Musk, with many concerned about Twitter’s impact on Tesla brand. This year, Tesla has not fared particularly well, plummeting from its peak in January of about $400 USD to under $150 USD. Reasons most investors in Tesla are concerned includes lack of demand for electric Tesla vehicles, Musk having sold 18.4 billion USD worth of Tesla stock earlier this year, along with his various drastic actions. Investors are concerned that Musk is directing his attention away from Tesla and towards Twitter, where he has made several controversial statements, significantly decreased advertising, and put Twitter 1 billion USD in debt.
Twitter’s investment potential has also not been viewed well by investors, due to Musk’s series of controversial decisions. Musk, who cited free speech as a reason for his acquisition of Twitter, banned certain journalists who reported on his ban of an account that tracked the location of his private jet, followed by banning links to other forms of social media, including Instagram, Mastodon, and Facebook. The link ban has since been repealed after another poll. Musk posted a Twitter poll on December 18, asking “Should I step down as head of Twitter?”, in which 57% voted “Yes”.
Since this event, Tesla’s stock has decreased further in value by about 6.7%, indicating that most investors are not confident in Tesla’s potential for investment after Musk’s controversial actions. In a statement on December 13 referring to the current economic state of Tesla, he said, “Tesla will be great long-term, but doesn’t control macroeconomic tides.”