Can 62.6 million people be wrong? In any case, Elon Musk apparently believes in the intelligence of the masses. The founder and major shareholder of the electric car manufacturer Tesla took a very unusual step on the short message service over the weekend Twitter started a votet. He asked his 62.6 million followers whether he should sell ten percent of his shares in the electric car maker. These would be worth more than $ 20 billion at the last share price. According to the latest information, Musk still holds around 23 percent of Tesla. The stock market value of the electric car maker from California exceeded the mark of more than one trillion dollars at the end of October after a significant price increase.
“Lately there has been a lot of talk about unrealized profits as a means of tax avoidance,” wrote Musk on Twitter on Saturday evening. “So I propose to sell ten percent of my Tesla shares.” The tweet contained a poll that gave “yes” and “no” responses and was scheduled to last 24 hours. “I will stick to the results of this survey no matter how it turns out,” said Musk. Since he does not receive any cash wages or bonuses from Tesla, selling shares is the only way for him to become taxable. In the first 16 hours, more than 2.8 million Twitter users took part in the survey. Almost 57 percent voted for a sale. Should Musk sell its shares, it could result in a significant price decline. The exchanges do not open again until Monday.
Musk is known for being controversial and unconventional. In doing so, he came into conflict with the American Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2018, for example, he suddenly announced on Twitter that he wanted to privatize the listed company again and buy back the shares. “Take that into account,” he wrote at the time, and: “Funding secured.” No more information was available, the stock crashed and was temporarily suspended from trading. The excitement was great, the SEC took on the case. Back then, she told Musk to have Tesla’s lawyers check his tweets before they were published. Whether that happened this time is open. The announcement by Musk should in any case be relevant to the stock market.
BMW is only worth a fraction of Tesla on the stock exchange
Tesla – the group is currently building a plant in Brandenburg – is one of the most valuable listed companies and leaves all other car manufacturers, including the German competition, far behind. BMW, for example, only has a market capitalization of 55 billion euros, a fraction of Tesla’s. The last time Tesla shares made a leap was when the car rental company Hertz announced they would buy around 100,000 Tesla cars by the end of 2022, but shortly afterwards Musk announced on Twitter that the contract had not yet been signed. Musk is currently considered the richest person in the world, now ahead of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The 50-year-old is not only involved with Tesla, but also with other companies, such as the space company Space-X or the neurotechnology developer Neuralink.
Elon Musk at the open day on a stage in Grünheide near Berlin. Tesla is currently building a new factory there.
(Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa)
Price gains from stocks are currently only taxed in the USA if the papers are sold and a profit is thus realized. Critics complain that rich citizens can use it to build wealth without having to pay taxes. In the course of planned tax reforms by US President Joe Biden, it is now being discussed whether to change that. Congress is about a so-called “billionaire tax” of 23.8 percent on profits on securities, regardless of whether they were realized through a sale or not. It is estimated that around 700 taxpayers in the US who have assets of more than $ 1 billion or who have $ 100 million in annual income for three consecutive years would be affected. This is to finance Biden’s planned social and climate reforms. Musk would be affected in any case and has criticized the plans.