Teslas Musk says share sale affects “closer tax maximization”

November 13 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday that the result of his nearly $ 7 billion sale of Tesla shares this week was “closer to tax maximization than minimization.”[ads1];

Musk responded to a Twitter commentator who said Musk would end up with more Tesla shares if he sold options instead of shares.

“A cautious observer will notice that my (low basis) stock sale rate significantly exceeds my 10b (high basis) option exercise rate, and thus closer to tax maximization than minimization,” said the world’s richest person and Tesla’s top shareholder in a chirping.

Musk had previously said that he would have to exercise a large number of stock options this year, which would create a large tax bill. Selling some of his shares could potentially free up funds to pay taxes. read more

One week ago, Musk tweeted that he would sell 10% of his shares if users of the social media platform supported the move.

“A lot has been done lately of unrealized gains as a means of tax evasion, so I propose to sell 10% of my Tesla stock,” he said in a chirping. A majority of people who responded to the vote expressed support for the sale. read more

As of Friday, Musk had sold $ 6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric car company, taking advantage of a meteoric rally that increased the company’s value to over $ 1 trillion. read more

Reporting of Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

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