Tesla CEO Elon Musk offloaded a combined US$6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric car company this week, taking advantage of a meteoric rally that vaulted the firm’s value to over US$1 trillion.
The billionaire sold 1.2 million shares held by his trust for more than US$1.2 billion on Friday, the latest in a flurry of his stock transactions, according to a US securities filing released later in the day.
The world’s richest person and Tesla’s top shareholder last Saturday tweeted that he would sell ten per cent of his shares if users of the social media platform approved the move. The ten per cent would be about 17 million shares at the time of his tweet.
He has sold 6.36 million shares this week – around 37 per cent of 17 million. He now needs to offload about 10 million more shares to fulfill his pledge to sell ten per cent of his holdings
Shares of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) closed lower on Friday, down 2.8 per cent at $1 033.42, snapping an 11-week winning streak. The shares are up more than 46 per cent this year following a sharp rally in October.
The stock sales, which marked the first time that Musk cashed out on a stake of that size since the company was founded in 2003, were massive by capital market standards, eclipsing the initial public offerings of most companies. (Reuters)
