Elon Musk Sells $3.6B Of Tesla Stock This Week As He Tries Running Tight Twitter Ship

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the number of Tesla shares now owned by Elon Musk.

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk sold nearly $3.6 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker on Wednesday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

What Happened: The billionaire sold 22 million shares of Tesla, according to the filing. The latest sale means that Musk has now sold almost $40 billion worth of the automaker’s stock over the past year.

The sale was made between Monday and Wednesday, the filing showed and in multiple transactions in a price range of $167.550 to $168.540.

Following the sale, Musk now owns 423,622,432 shares worth $74.59 billion in the electric-vehicle manufacturer.

See Also: How To Buy Tesla (TSLA) Shares 

Why It Matters: The share sale comes as Musk-owned Twitter takes extreme measures to cut costs. Musk’s bankers who lent him $13B to buy the platform are planning to book losses this quarter.

Tesla shares have plummeted by 55.5% so far this year. The sell-off picked up speed after the entrepreneur purchased Twitter with the aid of loan commitments from his bankers.

Recent price cuts in the U.S. and China and production disruptions have also caused a lowering of expectations for the company’s fourth-quarter earnings, according to a prior report.

Investors are also worried that Musk is not available for Tesla as he focuses on revamping Twitter. His recent statements have also caused alienation among various sections of society, according to a survey.

Price Action: Tesla stock closed 2.6% lower at $156.80 on Wednesday and was little changed in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

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