If he exercised all of the options now and immediately sold the shares, they would net him $95.9 billion before taxes.
Musk may be signaling that he wants liquidity beyond the cash he’s secured by borrowing against his holdings in the EV maker. Last week he suggested he’d sell some stock if the UN could prove $6 billion could help alleviate world hunger. For years, Musk has said he would be the last to ever sell stock, and has often added to his position when Tesla has raised money from Wall Street so that his stake is not diluted.
Tax Situation
Musk moved to Texas, which has no state personal income tax, in late 2020. But as Tesla’s market value has skyrocketed and his personal wealth has ballooned, Musk has become a symbol of rising inequality—something he appears to be sensitive to. He was among the billionaires mentioned in a Pro Publica investigation of how the ultra rich avoid paying taxes, and has become a target of members of Congress who are pushing a billionaires tax.
“Whether or not the world’s wealthiest man pays any taxes at all shouldn’t depend on the results of a Twitter poll,” U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote in a tweet Saturday. “It’s time for the Billionaires Income Tax.”
Responding to Wyden’s post on Sunday, Musk appeared to use crude language to describe Wyden’s profile picture.
On his way to becoming the world’s richest person, Musk has made millionaires—and even at least one billionaire—among some of his fans, employees and other investors. Among them is Leo KoGuan, a Singapore-based retail investor and business owner who used his already considerable wealth to amass more than $7 billion in Tesla shares.
Count KoGuan among those Twitter followers who say it’s time for Musk to take some money out of the automaker, even if it is just to use it in Musk’s other ventures exploring space and neural networks. “Politically and from tax point of view and given that Elon is poor in cash, he has no choice but to sell his stakes to pay tax and to be cash-rich,” KoGuan posted Nov. 6.
—With assistance from Anders Melin and Nick Baker.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.