Musk, Who Said "No Additional Share Sales," Sells 9 Trillion Won Worth of Tesla Stock in Four Months

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, sold company shares worth approximately 9 trillion won just four months after stating there would be no additional share sales.

According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 10th (local time), Musk sold 7.92 million Tesla shares worth $6.9 billion (about 9.0238 trillion won) between the 5th and 9th. This comes four months after Musk sold $8.5 billion worth of shares in April and said there were "no plans for further sales."

Amid various speculations about the reason for this sale, Musk explained on Twitter that he did not want a sudden share sale until the conclusion of the Twitter acquisition was finalized.

This share sale occurred while Musk and Twitter were engaged in a legal battle after Musk reversed the Twitter acquisition agreement. In April, Musk agreed to acquire Twitter for $44 billion but later pointed out issues with fake accounts on Twitter and abruptly declared the contract void last month. Twitter then filed a lawsuit citing unilateral contract termination, and Musk countersued, claiming Twitter concealed critical information.

Tesla's stock price rose nearly 15% following a surprise earnings announcement on the 20th of last month. After this sale, Musk owns 155 million Tesla shares. Over the past 10 months, he has sold Tesla shares worth approximately $32 billion.