Musk sells $8.4 bn in Tesla shares after Twitter deal

According to US securities filings, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold around $8.4 billion worth of shares in the electric carmaker in the days after Twitter’s board approved his $44 billion acquisition offer.

According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday and Friday morning, Musk sold nearly 9.6 million Tesla shares in a series of transactions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

The deals, which are typically priced between $800 and $995 a share, come after Musk announced on Monday that he would buy Twitter and take it private in a deal that is highly reliant on Musk’s own fortune.

Musk, the world’s richest man, now owns about 163 million shares in Tesla through a trust as a result of these sales.

“No further TSLA sales after today,” Elon Musk tweeted late Thursday, using Tesla’s stock symbol.

To finance his takeover of Twitter, which was confirmed Monday, Musk has pledged up to $21 billion from his personal fortune, with the rest financed by debt.

In morning trading on Friday, Twitter shares jumped 1.6 percent to $49.77.

That’s still a long way below Musk’s offer of $54.20 per share in the acquisition, a disparity that market observers believe indicates a high likelihood of the deal failing to conclude.

Some analysts are sceptical that the transaction would go through, citing concerns about financing and Musk’s ability to focus on Tesla.

Tesla shares surged 4.4 percent to $916.30 on Friday, after plummeting throughout the week.