Tesla CEO Elon Musk should sell around 10% of his shares, according to 57.9% of those who participated in a Twitter poll asking if he should sell the holding. On Saturday, the world’s richest person tweeted that if users supported the idea, he would sell 10% of his stock. More than 3.5 million people voted in the poll.
“Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock,” Musk said on Saturday, adding that he does not take cash salary or bonus “from anywhere”, and only has stock.
“I was prepared to accept either outcome,” Musk said, after the voting ended.
US Senate Democrats have introduced a bill to tax billionaires’ stocks and other tradable assets in order to fund President Joe Biden’s social spending agenda and close a loophole that has allowed them to delay capital gains taxes forever. Musk slammed the proposal, saying, “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money, and then they come for you.”
According to Reuters estimates, Musk’s investment in Tesla was around 170.5 million shares as of June 30, and selling 10% would equate to close to $21 billion based on Friday’s closing price.
Musk holds a 23 percent stake in Tesla, the world’s most valuable car company, with a market value that recently achieved $1 trillion. He also owns a number of significant companies, including SpaceX. Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s brother, sold 88,500 Tesla shares on Friday, becoming the latest board member to offload a huge amount of Tesla equities that had reached record highs.
