WASHINGTON: Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to legal filings, amid a high-stakes court battle with Twitter over a $44 billion buyout deal.
The billionaire offloaded about 7.9 million shares in the electric carmaker between August 5 and 9, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
"In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock," Musk, the world’s richest man, said on Twitter late on Tuesday.
The social media network is locked in a legal battle with the mercurial Tesla boss over his effort to walk away from the April agreement to buy the company, and a judge has ordered the trial to begin in October.
Musk has filed a countersuit, accusing Twitter of fraud and alleging the platform misled him about key aspects of its business before he agreed to a $44 billion deal. The latest move comes after Musk sold around $8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares in April as he was preparing to finance the Twitter deal. He tweeted at the time: "No further TSLA sales planned after today."
Tesla had gained 2.2 percent to $868.34 by midday on Wednesday, while Twitter jumped 3.4 percent to $44.28. Musk has now sold about $32 billion worth of Tesla shares since November.
Dan Ives de Wedbush Securities said he thinks the Twitter purchase will go ahead in the end. "Musk has now sold enough TSLA stock to fund the Twitter deal which looks more likely," he told AFP. "This selling pressure has been an overhang on Tesla’s stock and for now the pressure is gone as the agita is gone."
But he notes in an analysis that there are multiple options to the drama. "We can also see Musk trying to resolve this powder keg situation before the Twitter deal officially heads to court in October," Ives said.
Tesla share prices have been tied to the fate of the Twitter deal in recent weeks, first slumping over concerns that pursuing the purchase could distract Musk and lead to unnecessary financial risk, and then rebounding when he said he wanted to abandon the takeover.
LONDON: Time Magazine has inlcuded Palestinian photographer Motaz Azaiza in ‘Icons’ category in ‘The 100 Most...
CAPRI, Italy: Ukraine warned foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major powers on Thursday they had to...
PARIS: The World Health Organisation has raised concerns about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which has an...
ROME: Italian police arrested last week a “most wanted” US fugitive who was carrying three concealed knives in a...
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions on Iran targeting its unmanned aerial vehicle...
LONDON: Myanmar’s detained former leader and Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from prison to house arrest possibly to be...
JAKARTA: Indonesia shut a provincial airport and evacuated hundreds of people from the vicinity of the Ruang volcano...
UNITED NATIONS: A man-made famine is “tightening its grip” across the Gaza Strip, the head of the United Nations...