Elon Musk, who recently lost his title as the world’s richest man, has sold approximately 22 million additional Tesla shares worth approximately $3.6 billion according to regulatory filings on Wednesday, December 14.
The regulatory filings with America’s Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the transactions occurred between Monday and Wednesday this week.
Musk previously sold $8.4 billion in Tesla stock in April, followed by another $6.9 billion in August.
The latest sale comes months after Musk told his Twitter followers that he had no plans to sell any more shares after the April offload.According to the Wall Street Journal, Tesla shares closed down 2.6% on Wednesday at $156.80, dropping the company’s market capitalization to $495 billion.
Musk resumed his Tesla stock sales after agreeing to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Musk was appointed CEO of the social media company shortly after the acquisition was completed in late October.
After taking over Twitter, Musk told his employees that he sold Tesla stock to “save” the company.
As part of the buyout, Twitter will be required to pay approximately $1 billion in debt per year, and some of the banks that made the loans are preparing to book losses on that debt this quarter. Musk could avoid ugliness by personally repaying Twitter’s debt.
Tesla shares have been declining this year, and have fallen even further since Musk was ‘forced’ to buy them.
As of Wednesday’s close, Tesla shares were down 55% year to date. According to Wall Street, this is the lowest level since November 2020, with the latest drop bringing the company’s market value below $500 billion.