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Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and its CEO, has reportedly sold his shares totalling a little over $1 billion. Musk’s been selling his shares in order to pay the tax dues that he expects could come to about $11 billion.
Musk began his share-selling endeavour in November 2021 and has committed to selling 10% of his shares in the company he founded. This time around, Musk sold 934, 090 shares. According to the American tax system, those taxpayers who own stock need to pay tax on stocks only when the latter are liquidated.
As such, Musk’s tax wasn’t on par with the stocks he held and often drew criticism. Musk’s decision to liquidate his shares and pay the huge tax amount is to ensure that the benefits he stands to gain as compensation in the form of further share options worth about $23 billion.
The last date to avail of these is 23rd August 2022.
Elon Musk's calculated selling choices
Speaking with The Babylon Bee last week, the 50-year-old entrepreneur had said that he was closer to achieving his 10% sale target.
Likewise, in the same interview, Musk had responded to his critics and said that all the money he owned were legal and above-board and that he didn’t have any money stashed away in offshore bank accounts. Elon Musk doesn’t take any salary or any other form of remuneration from his company.
However, in accordance with a compensatory package agreed upon in 2012, he can buy around 1.6 billion shares at the rate of $6.24 per share. Presently, Musk’s the world’s richest person with his wealth coming to more than $275 billion.
Musk’s wealth has also grown significantly in 2021 with Tesla’s market value booming by more than 54%.