Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been selling Tesla shares recently.
According to four new SEC filings, Musk sold about 4.4 million TSLA shares for roughly $4 billion on Tuesday and Wednesday, the CNBC reported.
The move comes as Musk prepares to take ownership of Twitter, which recently agreed to Musk’s $44 billion takeover bid at $54.20 per share.
Some of his fans reacted negatively to the news, calling Musk out for selling more of his TSLA stock (In November 2011, Musk sold roughly 10 percent of his Tesla stock after running a poll on Twitter asking whether he should sell). In 2013, Musk said that his money was the first in (into Tesla) and promised that it will be the last out.
On Friday, Musk said in a tweet that he does not plan to sell any more Tesla stock.
Musk, who has sometimes been described as “cash poor” given that most of his wealth is tied in Tesla shares, as well as shares of other companies he runs, including SpaceX and The Boring Company, likely needed the cash to help finance the Twitter deal, though he didn’t offer an explanation for the move.
If you’re scared for the Coca-Cola Company – Musk recently joked that he was buying Coca-Cola to “put the cocaine back in” – fear not, with a market cap of about $287 billion, Musk’s freshly acquired cash wouldn’t be enough for a takeover.
