Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

      20 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Sita hits back at critics, promises faster, automated procurement

      20 June 2025

      The transatlantic race to create the first television

      20 June 2025

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Investment » Twitter has spoken: Musk should sell a $21-billion Tesla stake

    Twitter has spoken: Musk should sell a $21-billion Tesla stake

    By Agency Staff8 November 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Elon Musk

    Elon Musk’s social media followers have spoken: The Tesla chief should sell 10% of his stake in the electric car maker.

    A majority of 3.5 million Twitter users said they’d support the move in a poll that Musk launched on Saturday when he floated the idea of selling the stock, which is valued at about US$21-billion based on 170.5 million Tesla shares he holds. Musk had said he would “abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes”.

    The poll closed shortly after 2.15 pm on Sunday, New York time, with about 58% of respondents backing the idea of the sale.

    I do believe that him doing it in this way definitely would soften the blow…

    The crowd-sourcing exercise is the latest example of Musk’s long history of using Twitter and his legions of fans on the platform to stoke interest in his company, sometimes pushing the envelope with tongue-in-cheek tweets. The world’s richest person proposed the move in a tweet citing recent discussions about the ultra-wealthy hoarding unrealised gains to avoid paying taxes. Musk doesn’t take a salary, but has to pay taxes on any stock options that he exercises.

    While large sales by insiders are often seen as a negative signal, a sale of this size won’t alter Tesla’s story in a meaningful way, said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Demand remains high for Tesla shares among both institutional and retail investors, he said. The unorthodox step of getting buy-in from fans and investors via a poll may also ease any concerns.

    Perception

    “Selling 10% is probably going to add 1.5% to 2% to the float, so it doesn’t really significantly move the needle,” Ives said in a phone interview. “I do believe that him doing it in this way definitely would soften the blow and would help the perception as well.”

    The car maker’s stock has soared 73% this year to $1 222.09, giving it a valuation of $1.2-trillion as of 5 November. The number of shares that Musk — its CEO and largest shareholder — could be set to offload is equivalent to 80% of Tesla’s average daily trading volume in the past three months. The amount of stock he may potentially sell would be even greater if his options are included.

    Musk’s fortune stands at $338-billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. About a quarter of that consists of Tesla stock options that he’s free to exercise at any time. The securities come from two big awards he received in 2012 and 2018. The older contracts expire in August next year.

    If he exercised all of the options now and immediately sold the shares, they would net him $95.9-billion before taxes

    If he exercised all of the options now and immediately sold the shares, they would net him $95.9-billion before taxes.

    Musk may be signalling that he wants liquidity beyond the cash he’s secured by borrowing against his holdings in the EV maker. Last week he suggested he’d sell some stock if the UN could prove $6-billion could help alleviate world hunger. For years, Musk has said he would be the last to ever sell stock, and has often added to his position when Tesla has raised money from Wall Street so that his stake is not diluted.

    Musk moved to Texas, which has no state personal income tax, in late 2020. But as Tesla’s market value has skyrocketed and his personal wealth has ballooned, Musk has become a symbol of rising inequality — something he appears to be sensitive to. He was among the billionaires mentioned in a Pro Publica investigation of how the ultra rich avoid paying taxes, and has become a target of members of congress who are pushing a billionaires tax.

    “Whether or not the world’s wealthiest man pays any taxes at all shouldn’t depend on the results of a Twitter poll,” US senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote in a tweet on Saturday. “It’s time for the Billionaires Income Tax.”

    Millionaires

    On his way to becoming the world’s richest person, Musk has made millionaires — and even at least one billionaire — among some of his fans, employees and other investors. Among them is Leo KoGuan, a Singapore-based retail investor and business owner who used his already considerable wealth to amass more than $7-billion in Tesla shares.

    Count KoGuan among those Twitter followers who say it’s time for Musk to take some money out of the car maker, even if it is just to use it in Musk’s other ventures exploring space and neural networks. “Politically and from tax point of view and given that Elon is poor in cash, he has no choice but to sell his stakes to pay tax and to be cash-rich,” KoGuan posted on 6 November.  — Reported by Ryan Beene and Dana Hull, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP



    Elon Musk Tesla
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleMTN in bid to buy Telkom: Bloomberg News
    Next Article Crypto rally lifts ether to new record, bitcoin to near 3-week high

    Related Posts

    Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

    19 June 2025

    Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

    17 June 2025

    Up to Icasa whether Starlink gets a licence: Malatsi

    11 June 2025
    Company News

    Making IT happen: how Trade Link gears up to enable SA retail strategies

    20 June 2025

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.