Tesla shares rise after CEO Elon Musk said he sold $ 8.5 billion of shares to fund Twitter acquisition

Tesla’s stock reversed the slide after Elon Musk said he completed the sale of shares in an electric car company he manages as CEO to finance his upcoming $ 44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

Sales of approximately $ 8.5 billion in shares, made in the form of multiple transactions involving 9.4 million shares, have been disclosed in regulatory documents in recent days. On Thursday night, Musk tweeted that “TSLA sales are no longer scheduled after today.” It appears this news has been a relief for Tesla’s investors. High-stakes shares fell more than 20% following news of Musk’s $ 44 billion Twitter acquisition. The deal was officially announced on Monday, less than two weeks after Musk bought a 9% stake in the social media company.

Musk is the richest man in the world, but his wealth isn’t as liquid. He holds important positions in various companies, most notably in Tesla. The tightrope action he has to take is to use his huge stash of Tesla stock, without creating panic among the investor base, which is moving away from the company. (Musk is already splitting his time between SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company.)

While not the founder of Tesla, Musk has gained a large following leading the company to an unlikely rise as a leading manufacturer of electric vehicles. This latest success follows Musk’s previous success as a co-founder of PayPal, which placed him in the elite of the tech industry.

Musk has announced his intention to make significant changes to Twitter, which is especially important for reducing content moderation efforts. He frequently sends criticism to the social media company’s 88.7 million Twitter followers.

Following the announcement of the privatization proposal on Twitter, the parties said that if either party abandoned the transaction, they would have to pay $ 1 billion. Many Musk observers and Wall Street analysts have pointed out that if Tesla’s stock takes a long-term dip, Musk could pay taxes and end his prosecution. At the moment this scenario is unlikely, but in 2022 the equity markets were extremely volatile and the technology sector in particular started the year frustrated.