Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has sold $ 8.5 billion worth of shares in an electric vehicle maker, U.S. safety documents have been shown, in a possible sale to finance his planned Twitter Inc purchase (TWTR).
Musk said in a tweet on Thursday that "no further TSLA sales are scheduled for today". He sold an estimated 9.6 million shares this week, according to papers on Thursday and Friday, accounting for 5.6% of his shares in the company.
It is not yet clear whether all of Tesla's latest Musk sales have been reported. Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters's request for comment.
The sale comes after Musk on Monday made a deal to buy Twitter for $ 44 billion in cash that would change the control of a social media platform full of millions of users and world leaders for the richest man in the world. Musk's total value is $ 268 billion.
As part of the deal, Musk said it would provide a $ 21 billion equity.
It was not immediately clear how the billionaire would raise the remaining $ 12.5 billion. Musk accounted for 43.61% of the unlisted rocket company SpaceX, which reportedly has a value of $ 100 billion.
Tesla shares rose almost 5% in the morning trading on Friday.
They have dropped by almost 20% since Musk announced more than 9% on Twitter on April 4th.
Musk has been looking for partners to reduce his contribution to the equality agreement, a source close to the case told Reuters, adding that it was too early to see such a partner emerge.
This is his first Tesla stock sale since he released $ 16.4 billion shares in November and December after Twitter users voted to sell 10% of his stake to the electric car maker.
Musk said on Twitter he would pay more than $ 11 billion in taxes by 2021 for his use of stock options that will expire this year.
Some traders are worried this week that Musk may not have enough money sitting nearby to fund his $ 21 billion donation and may break the deal, which weighs in on Twitter shares. Learn more
As part of the Twitter finance agreement, Musk received $ 13 billion in securities on Twitter secured loans and a $ 12.5 billion loan tied to his Tesla stock.
