Musk sells $4B in Tesla shares to finance Twitter purchase; earlier stock buys under investigation
Amidst increasing worries that Musk may not be able to finance the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, the multi-billionaire sold 4.4 million Tesla shares
Elon Musk has sold 4.4 million shares worth nearly $4 billion to finance his $44 billion cash purchase of Twitter. He has said that he does not have plans to sell any more stock from the electric vehicle manufacturer.
As part of the deal with Twitter, Musk had promised to pay $21 billion in equity commitments. However, since the deal was finalised, both Tesla's and Twitter's share prices have been dropping as fears remain that Musk will either have to pull the money out of the former, or back out of the deal with the latter.
On 26 April alone, Tesla's share price dropped by 12.2 percent, wiping out $126 billion in value. Musk himself lost $21 billion, coincidentally the same number he had pledged to the Twitter deal.
Musk under FTC investigation for earlier Twitter purchases
Elon Musk is also under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in America for his purchase of 9 percent of Twitter stock earlier this year. The Information reported that the FTC is looking into whether Musk complied with an antitrust reporting requirement.
The investigation is into whether Musk bought the shares to influence Twitter's management, or whether he planned to be a passive shareholder. Earlier this month, a private investor had also sued Musk for delayed disclosure of the stock purchases in March which cost the investor who sold his shares after Musk purchased them but before he disclosed the purchase.
It is not expected that the latest FTC investigation will prove to be an obstacle to Musk purchasing Twitter at the agreed-upon price.
Edited by Anju Narayanan