Elon Musk seems to be considering offloading some Tesla stock soon, and he has now asked his followers on Twitter to help him decide what to do with 10% of his Tesla shares. But what could cause Elon Musk to sell 10% of his Tesla shares right now?
Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.
Do you support this?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021
Musk, currently the richest man in the world, had in September said that he was planning on selling some of his Tesla shares.
“I have a bunch of options that are expiring early next year, so … a huge block of options will sell in Q4 โ because I have to or they’ll expire,” Musk had said.
Tesla has undoubtedly enjoyed a solid year, with a record-breaking third quarter. Tesla’s share value surged when Hertz announced that it was ordering 100,000 cars. Although Musk has since said that there has been no official agreement with the rental company yet, Tesla’s shares still rose by 34 percent.
Musk, who has a 23% stake in the trillion-dollar company, has also seen his wealth surge. As it stands, Musk has eclipsed fellow billionaire space-enthusiast Jeff Bezos‘ already mammoth net worth of $201.3Bn to become the first human in modern history to be worth above $300Bn. No doubt, Elon’s pockets are itching as the SpaceX founder recently offered the United Nations $6Bn. Elon Musk was willing to sell that equivalent in Tesla stock if the multinational organization could prove that it would end world hunger. David Beasley, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), had told CNN that a one-off donation from America’s billionaires could help save the lives of 42 million people around the world this year. “The billionaires need to step up now on a one-time basis, $6bn to help 42 million people that are literally going to die if we don’t reach them. It’s not complicated,” Beasley had said.
However, after Musk’s offer, Beasley had made a response to which the Tesla CEO has remained largely skeptical.
Regardless, this isn’t why Elon Musk wants to sell off Tesla stock. Musk has options for 22,862,050 shares at $6.24, which were awarded to him nine years ago. The options are due to expire in August 2022. Musk’s poll is in response to critics who claim that the billionaire is avoiding tax paymentโthe wealthy often avoid paying millions in tax as their assets are held in stock and real estate, which aren’t taxable until sold. Shooting down those claims, Musk tweeted, “Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?” Musk added a “Yes” or “No” poll and promised to act according to the results. Elon’s would be taxable by over 50% once his options expire in 2022.
