Elon Musk Sells $7 Billion in Tesla Stock for Twitter Deal - The New York Times

Elon Musk, the chief executive of the electric vehicle maker Tesla, has sold about $7 billion worth of the company’s stock, a move he said on Twitter was an effort to raise cash in case he was forced to complete his $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter.

Musk revealed on Tuesday in securities filings, a reversal from his previous statements that he would not sell additional shares to finance the Twitter deal.

Musk signed the deal in April to acquire the social media company only to announce months later his intent to pull out, citing concerns about its accounting of fake users.

Musk to force him to close the deal through a provision of the contract known as “specific performance.” A judge in the Delaware Chancery Court will decide in October whether he must follow through on the acquisition.

Musk said he had sold the shares because, in “the (hopefully 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.” Mr.

Musk is the richest man in the world, but much of his wealth is tied up in shares of Tesla.

He also said Tuesday that he would buy more Tesla stock if his deal to buy Twitter did not close.

Musk sold about $8.5 billion shares in Tesla to help fund the deal, before tweeting that he had no further sales planned.

Musk said in May that he would pay for the Twitter acquisition with about $33.5 billion in cash, through a combination of his own funds, outside investors and partnership with other Twitter shareholders.

His sale of Tesla stock may mitigate those worries, said Ann M