Elon Musk says he sells Tesla shares to pay his taxes on internet users’ vote – The HuffPost

via Associated Press

SOCIAL MEDIA – Elon Musk asked his Twitter followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in You’re here. 3.5 million of them voted between Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and answered “yes” to 57.9%.

“I was ready to accept the result whatever it is”, indicated the entrepreneur who regularly uses the social network to make unexpected announcements or amazing comments. However, he did not specify when he intended to sell his shares, or how.

Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.

Do you support this?

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021

I was prepared to accept either outcome

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2021

The whimsical boss of the electric vehicle maker seemed to have his sights set on a recent suggestion from Democratic lawmakers, proposing to tax the super-rich more heavily by targeting their stocks, which are generally taxed only when sold. It was a priori left out for the moment.

Elon Musk had already criticized this proposal at the end of October, writing in a tweet: “They end up using up everyone else’s money and come and get yours.”

On Saturday he broached the subject again, writing: “There has been a lot of talk lately about unrealized gains like a tax avoidance tool, I therefore propose to sell 10% of my Tesla shares ”.

His tweet referred to a mini-poll offering Internet users to vote “yes” or “no”. According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk owned about 17% of Tesla’s outstanding shares as of June 30, which is currently worth $ 208.37 billion.

By selling 10% of its shares, it could theoretically recover a little less than $ 21 billion. The entrepreneur was also awarded a large package of stock options and convertible shares as compensation. His fortune has swelled with the recent surge in the title, from around $ 130 in early 2020 to $ 1,222.09 on Friday night.

With his stakes in his other companies, especially rocket builder SpaceX, Elon Musk is theoretically the richest man in the world with a fortune estimated by Bloomberg at $ 338 billion.

“Note that I do not take a salary in cash or bonus anywhere,” he said on Twitter on Saturday. “I only have shares, so the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell shares,” he added.

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