Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk has sold a further $3.58bn in the electric car maker, according to a regulatory filing.
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Musk sold around 22 million shares on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week, taking the total amount of Tesla stock sold by the Chief Executive to nearly $40 billion.
There has, as of yet, not been a reason given for the latest sale, but Musk still remains the electric vehicle giant's biggest shareholder with an approximately 13.4% stake, according to a report by the BBC.
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The sale is the second significant tranche of stock Musk has sold since his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October, and the latest news is annoying for shareholders who have already seen Tesla shares decline to their lowest levels since mid-November 2020 this week. They feel his acquisition of the social media platform is diverting his attention.
Tesla stock is now down 59% in 2022 after a 4% decline Tuesday and a 2.5% fall on Wednesday. Premarket Thursday, Tesla shares have dipped over 1%.
Reacting to the news of the share sale, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives told investors in a research note that “the Twitter nightmare” continues as Musk is using Tesla as his own ATM machine to keep funding the red ink at Twitter which he believes worsens each day as advertisers flee the platform.
Ives said he remains bullish on Tesla long-term and believes the stock is oversold, but thinks Musk continues to throw gasoline in the burning fire around the Tesla story by selling more stock. Furthermore, Ives said he believes it is getting to the point that will force Tesla's Board to confront some of the issues head-on in the near term.
The analyst sees this as “a moment of truth” for Musk and Tesla but maintained an Outperform rating and $250 price target on the stock.
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