In the space of a few days, Elon Musk sold almost 4 billion dollars worth of Tesla shares, to finance the takeover of Twitter.
Elon Musk is not a stockbroker like the others. But when financing the acquisition of the Twitter network for some 44 billion dollars, it is necessary to find the necessary resources. And in the case of the volatile billionaire, they can be found on the Tesla side. This is how Elon Musk sold, between November 4 and November 8, 19 million additional Tesla shares, or about 4 billion dollars.
More than $20 billion in Tesla shares sold since the start of the year
This is not a first for Elon Musk. Last April, he had already sold $8.4 billion worth of Tesla shares, before selling another $6.9 billion later in August. At that time, the SpaceX founder said he was done selling shares in the automaker, and that the process was intended to fund the acquisition of Twitter.
Except that Mr. Musk did it again at the beginning of the month, offloading nearly $4 billion in Tesla securities. In 2022, he thus sold nearly 20 billion dollars of shares in the group.
Each time, the phases of share sales had consequences on the price of Tesla, which had started the year around 350 dollars, before plunging today below the 200 dollar mark, or very exactly 191, 30 dollars at the close on Tuesday evening on the NASDAQ, thus plunging the value of the manufacturer by around 30% over the period.
Troubled times for Twitter
The Tesla shares sold by Elon Musk must partly finance the takeover of Twitter, which must be done in cash up to 27 billion dollars. The balance, estimated at around 13 billion dollars, is provided by loans contracted with banks such as Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and even the French companies BNP Paribas and Société Générale.
Since taking control of Twitter on October 28, Elon Musk has been in the news, with positions that are constantly evolving (the latest is none other than the company’s about-face). on the certification of accounts) and users who find themselves lost in the midst of abundant, sometimes contradictory announcements and tweets.
And the situation could become even more tense economically, at a time when the advertisers of the platform with the little blue bird are withdrawing one after the other. Stellantis (PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), Allianz, Audi and General Motors have announced the at least temporary suspension of their spending on Twitter, not reassured by the future of the moderation of the content of the microblogging service.
Source : The Verge
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