Elon Musk: I'll sell 10% of Tesla stock based on Twitter poll | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

SILVER SPRING, Md. >> Tesla shares were down almost 3% in early trading today after CEO Elon Musk said he would sell 10% of his holdings in the electric car maker — more than $20 billion worth by most calculations — based on the results of a poll he conducted on Twitter over the weekend. According to analyst Daniel Ives of WedBush Securities, Musk owns about 23% of Tesla’s stock and has about $10 billion in taxes coming due to stock options that vest next summer. Much of Musk’s wealth is held in shares of Tesla, which does not pay him a cash salary. “I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock,” Musk tweeted. Many on Wall Street assumed Musk would be selling closer to 5% of his stake, Ives said, but even doubling that number doesn’t cause him or his firm great concern. Ives said better to “rip the Band-Aid off now” and avoid speculation. “Tesla remains in pole position to drive this EV adoption curve to the next level both domestically and globally with Musk & Co. leading the way,” Ives wrote in a note to clients. Tesla…
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