NEW YORK (Archyde.com) – Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold $8.5 billion worth of shares in the electric car maker, disclosures to the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed, in a transaction likely to help fund his planned purchase of Twitter. Musk said in a tweet on Thursday that “there are no further plans to sell Tesla shares following today.” He sold regarding 9.6 million shares this week, according to records on Thursday and Friday, equivalent to 5.6 percent of his stake in the company. It was not clear if all of Musk’s recent sales of Tesla stock had been reported. The company did not immediately respond to a Archyde.com request for comment. The sale took place following Musk on Monday reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion in cash in a deal that would shift control of the social media platform used by millions as well as world leaders into the hands of the world’s richest person. Musk’s net worth is $268 billion, according to Forbes magazine. As part of the deal, Musk pledged to repay $21 billion of debt in the form of stock. It is not yet clear how the billionaire will raise the remaining $12.5 billion. Musk owns a 43.61 percent stake in unlisted rocket company SpaceX, which is valued at $100 billion. Tesla shares rose regarding 5 percent in early trading on Friday. The stock has fallen regarding 20 percent since Musk revealed he had bought a more than 9 percent stake in Twitter on April 4. A source familiar with the matter told Archyde.com that Musk was looking for partners to reduce his contribution to the deal, adding that it was not certain that such a partner would emerge. This is the first time Musk has sold Tesla shares since he sold $16.4 billion worth of shares in November and December following polling Twitter users regarding selling 10 percent of his stake in the electric car maker.
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