Elon Musk sells more than $1.1 billion in Tesla stock

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold nearly $5 billion in Tesla stock, according to financial filings out Wednesday evening. He still holds more than 166 million shares.

His trust sold more than 3.5 million shares worth over $3.88 billion in a flurry of trades carried out Tuesday and Wednesday. Those transactions were not marked as 10b5, meaning they were not scheduled sales.

Earlier Wednesday evening, filings showed Musk is selling a separate block of Tesla shares via a plan that he set in motion on Sept. 14 this year. Those sales amount to more than 930,000 shares worth over $1.1 billion.

Musk sold these shares in part to satisfy tax obligations related to an exercise of stock options.

Before that sale plan was made public, Musk asked his 62.5 million Twitter followers to vote in an informal poll, telling them their vote would determine the future of his Tesla holdings. The filings reveal that, in fact, he knew some of his shares were slated for sale this week.

Following the Twitter poll, shares of Tesla slumped more 15% over Monday and Tuesday, before rebounding more than 4% on Wednesday.

The stock was higher in after-hours trade on Thursday.

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, speaking at the DealBook Online Summit on Wednesday, said he personally did not want to see Musk sell. “Individuals like Elon Musk, like Jeff Bezos have transformed life, and we want to keep them in control of their companies, as long as they’ve got the energy and the ambition to keep moving the business forward.”

Previously, Musk signaled that he was likely to sell “a huge block” of his options in the fourth quarter. At an appearance at the Code Conference in September, Musk said when his stock options expire at Tesla, his marginal tax rate would be over 50%.

Current and former board members including chairwoman Robyn Denholm, Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk, Ira Ehrenpreis and Antonio Gracias have offloaded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Tesla shares since Oct. 28 after Tesla’s market cap surpassed $1 trillion.

Among those insider sales, Kimbal Musk’s was the only transaction that was not listed as a 10b5, or planned sale. Kimbal Musk sold around $109 million worth of his shares a day ahead of his brother’s Twitter poll.

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[braidenchesnutt]

The biggest lesson I learned in 2023 about the stock market is that nobody knows what will happen next, so practice some humility and low a strategy with a long-term edge.

[turbokuo]

Elon plays 3D chess while most others are playing checkers.

[philipzeng]

I HAVE BEEN MAKING LOSSES TRADING MYSELF...I THOUGHT TRADING ON DEMO ACCOUNT IS JUST LIKE TRADING THE REAL MARKET... CAN ANYONE HELP ME OUT OR AT LEAST ADVICE ME ON WHAT TO DO?

[successfulinternetpsycholo]

Oh he was trying to move the market with a twitter poll so he could sell his shares for cheaper. (facepalm). Are there any intelligent people working at CNBC?

[Thyalwaysseek]

Cashing in or cashing out? What a smart way to sell a heap of shares without spooking the markets, just say you sold them because your fanboys wanted you to sell them. Well played.

[paulbeaumont]

Trying to create a story and adjusting the facts to support your thesis....

[seanweis]

Nice I'll get some more shares on sale here soon 😉

[janina]

Elon just pulled a Robin Hood and it worked!

[saw]

Elon warning retail investors in the most Elon fashion. Bears are furious 😂

[louskunt]

Tesla is making us crazy rich!! I finally retired today at 29 years old from my Tesla stock. And it’s going up like crazy as I type! I love TSLA!! 🚀🚀🚀🚀🎯💯🚀🎯

[adi_sekar]

Is it possible, Elon already sold most of what he needed to sell, before Twitter poll, and then when price decreased after Twitter poll, he can buy back those shares at low price?
I am new to stocks, if someone can clarify?

[UndefinedSolutions]

CNBC are officially Tesla bears 🐻 you just confirm that didn’t you, so you’re saying that he wanted to sell he’s shares for lesser dollars 💵 and that’s why he did a tweeters 🐦 pool 😂😂😂🥸🤡

[bruceaseltine]

Is it not against SEC regulations to share what you are going to do in the stock market prior to exercising your stock trade ?

[ronniewagler]

He didn’t ask if he should, he asked if people support his proposal. He already knew he was selling. Get a grip, people. Quit making it sound like he just decided based on a twitter poll. Sheesh

[fishingbob]

He lied about his Semi trucks, they were supposed to come out in 2019. He lied about his autopilot, and still does. He lied about the trucks. Now he’s cashing out.

[a.sarmiento]

Its a survey to get up close and personnal to his tweeter fans. So how do I get one?

[sky-eotz]

SOLANA is the Best investment these days after TESLA, Bitcoin , AVAX and GOLd

[damongnojek]

Well, the poll was for 10 percent. I don’t believe that the “unannounced” planned sale was for nearly that much. Considering ten percent is a much larger sum of money when liquidated, as Dwight mentions in the comments.

[Leafbinder]

Why wouldnt he sell some stock he only gets paid if the company does awesome an even then gets payed in stock shares why does everyone make a big deal if he is selling stock? of course he will sell some, would be like asking you twits on CBS to work for free.

[crazytrain]

Tell him to buy amc and lets destroy some hedge funds during the squeeze