‘I Propose Selling 10 Percent of My Tesla Stock’: Elon Musk Takes Twitter Poll About His Holdings

‘Do you support this?’, Elon Musk asks his followers on Twitter.

By Edited by Gadgets 360 Newsdesk | Updated: 8 November 2021 11:50 IST

‘I Propose Selling 10 Percent of My Tesla Stock’: Elon Musk Takes Twitter Poll About His Holdings

Elon Musk has promised to abide by the results of the Twitter poll

Highlights

Elon Musk had earlier hinted at selling a 'huge block' of his Tesla stock
He is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
Musk frequently engages his Twitter audience, especially about crypto

Elon Musk's Twitter adventures can do wonders — they can spark off debates and send cryptocurrency values swinging from tizzy highs to plunging lows. But this time, the business magnate chose to decide the fate of his Tesla holdings through Twitter. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, conducted a poll on Twitter and asked his 62.8 million followers whether or not he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla stock. The poll began on Saturday and closed late on Sunday night. It received over 35 lakh votes, of which 57.9 percent voted for selling of the stocks.

However, Musk already seemed to have made up his mind. According to a CNBC report, he had decided in September itself to sell “a huge block” of his stocks in the fourth quarter.

“I have a bunch of options that are expiring early next year, so ... a huge block of options will sell in Q4 — because I have to or they'll expire," he is quoted to have said at a conference.

The CNBC report stated that Musk had said during a conference in September that when his stock options expired at Tesla, his marginal tax rate would be over 50 percent and that he was planning to sell it soon. “I have a bunch of options that are expiring early next year, so ... a huge block of options will sell in Q4 — because I have to or they'll expire,” the CNBC report quoted Musk as saying at the conference.

However, on November 7, in this Twitter post, Musk told his followers that he proposed “selling 10% of my Tesla stock”, and asked them if they supported his action.

Here's the post:

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?
— Lorde Edge (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021

In the same Twitter thread, he said he will abide by the results of the poll.

I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes
— Lorde Edge (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021

In another tweet, Musk justified the poll, saying that the “only way” for him to pay his taxes personally was to sell his stocks.

Note, I do not take a cash salary or bonus from anywhere. I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock.
— Lorde Edge (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021

American businessman and YouTuber James Stephen Donaldson, aka MrBeast, commented in disbelief how a Twitter poll was to decide the fate of billions of dollars worth Tesla shares.

This Twitter Poll decides the fate of $20,000,000,000+ of Tesla stock lol
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) November 6, 2021

Another user, Cory Wijnhamer, commented that this poll would make Tesla shares “tank” and would take the “money out of the pockets of the people who have believed in you and your company the most”.

You do realize that Tesla stock will now tank on Monday because of this, thus ending the awesome run the stock has made the last month. Posts like this is taking money out of the pockets of the people who have believed in you and your company the most. ????
— Cory Wijnhamer (@corywijnhamer) November 6, 2021

For now, we can only wait and watch what Elon Musk does with the Tesla stock that he has proposed to sell.

Is JioPhone Next the 4G phone for everyone that Reliance promises? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.