Elon musk sells billions of dollars in Tesla shares 

Elon Musk sold 4.4 million shares of Tesla valued at nearly $4 billion, according to filings with the Security Exchange Commission. 

The sale in shares, which were conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, was coupled with the stock of the electric vehicle company plummeting 20 percent, with Musk, the company’s CEO, simply tweeting on Thursday, ‘No further TSLA sales planned for today.’

The sale comes as Musk, the world’s richest man, goes forward with his plan to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. 

Elon Musk (above) sold 4.4 million shares of Tesla valued at nearly $4 billion on Thursday

Tesla’s stock began plummeting on Tuesday as Musk started offloading his shares

According to the SEC filings, Musk, who owned 17 percent of Tesla, made the sales at prices between $870 and $1,000 per share. 

Musk had staked $12.5 billion of his ownership in Tesla as collateral to purchase Twitter, with his commitment to take over the social media platform causing an earlier drop in Tesla stock as investors feared he will be too preoccupied with his latest acquisition. 

Analyst Dan Ives, of Wedbush Securities, said that Musk’s focus on Twitter and the recent sell of Tesla stocks was foreboding for the future of the electric vehicle company. 

‘It’s a brutal cycle for Tesla investors to navigate and casts a shadow on the name with Musk selling more stock,’ Ives told Bloomberg. ‘The Twitter deal is becoming an albatross for Tesla’s stock and this pours gasoline on the raging fire.’

The 12 percent fall on Tuesday, when Musk began offloading his shares, represented the biggest fall in Tesla shares since September 2020.  

This story is developing.