Elon Musk sells US$6.9 billion worth of Tesla stock to finance Twitter deal

In this file photo taken on April 14, 2022 by TED Conferences, Tesla chief Elon Musk spoke to the head of TED Chris Anderson out of frame at TED 2022, in this file photo. RYAN LASH TED CONFERENCES, LLC AFP Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sold US $6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle maker, saying that the funds could be used to finance a potential Twitter deal if he loses a legal battle with the social media platform.

In the unlikely event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don't come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock, he said in a tweet late on Tuesday.

In early July, Musk agreed to buy Twitter for US $44 billion, up from his April 25 agreement. In the wake of the plunge in technology stocks, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the transaction and dismissed his claim that he was misled about the number of spam accounts on the social media platform. The two sides will go to trial on October 17.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said that Street will read through this poker move and that chances of a Twitter deal are more likely now.

Musk said yes if he was done selling Tesla stock, and he would buy Tesla stock again if the Twitter deal doesn't close.

READ MORE: Twitter rejects Musk's claims that he was hoodwinked.

In April, Musk, the world's richest person, sold US $8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares and said there were no more sales planned. Since then, legal experts had suggested that if Musk had to settle the dispute with a stiff penalty, he was likely to sell more Tesla shares.

Between Aug 5 and Aug 9, Musk sold about 7.92 million shares, according to multiple filings. According to Reuters, he owns 155.04 million Tesla shares or just over 15 percent of the automaker.

The latest sales bring total Tesla stock sales by Musk to more than US $32 billion in less than a year.

ALSO READ: Twitter hits back at Musk, saying no deal obligations breached.

Since the automaker reported better-than-expected earnings on July 20, Tesla's shares have risen nearly 15 percent, as well as the Biden administration's climate bill that would lift the cap on tax credits for electric vehicles.

Musk teased on Tuesday that he could start his own social media platform. When asked by a Twitter user if he had thought about creating his own platform if the deal didn't close, he replied: X.com