Elon Musk is selling Tesla shares for $3.95 billion

Twitter new owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold nearly $4 billion worth of Tesla stock, according to regulatory filings.

Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion, sold 19.5 million shares of the electric car company between Nov. 4 and Nov. 8, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

He $7 billion in sales of his Tesla stock in August as he worked to finance the purchase of Twitter, which he was trying to divest at the time. In total, Musk sold more than 19 billion dollars Tesla shares since April, including in Tuesday’s filings, likely to finance its stake in the Twitter purchase.

Twitter’s takeover hasn’t gone smoothly, with some major advertisers pulling away from the social media platform in recent weeks, including United Airlines, General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi.

Musk acknowledged a “big drop in revenue” at Twitter, which relies heavily on advertising to make money.

Musk has made it clear that he is done selling Tesla stock, and the revelation that those sales are continuing has angered some industry analysts.

“In the final days of the deal, we feared that Musk would be forced to sell more Tesla shares to finance the disastrous Twitter deal, and those fears ended up coming true, indicating massive selling pressure in the stock recently. ,” wrote Daniel Ives at Wedbush. “As Musk, who has said several times over the past year that he is ‘done selling Tesla stock’, is once again losing more trust from investors and his loyal following in the boy who cried wolf moment.”

Much of Musk’s wealth is tied to shares in Tesla Inc. His personal net worth fell below $200 billion on Tuesday, according to Forbes, but he remains the richest person in the world.

Musk has tapped banks, including Morgan Stanley, to help finance the Twitter deal. Ives estimated his initial stake in the deal was about $15.5 billion. But if the equity investors disappear, Musk will be on the hook to replace them or invest more of his own money.

“Twitter’s circus show has been a complete debacle on all fronts since Musk bought the platform for the world, from 50% layoffs and bringing back some workers, to a staggering check for users that many are repulsed by constant tweeting amid this political storm, and now…..selling more TSLA stock,” Ives wrote. “When will it end?”

Shares of Tesla Inc., which were flat at the open on Wednesday, fell 8% this week and are down 46% this year, far outpacing the broader market’s decline in what has been a terrible year for investors.