Tesla shares fall after Twitter approves of Elon Musk's plan to sell 10% stake

[midian182]

In context: Tesla shares fell 9% this morning, and it's partly because of Twitter. Well, Twitter and Elon Musk. The EV company's CEO tweeted on Saturday that he would sell 10% of his stock if the platform's users approved the move in a poll. After more than 3.5 million votes, 57.9% of participants chose in favor of the sale.

Musk posted his tweet following the recent legislative proposal that would see unrealized gains taxed. A report earlier this year showed the billionaire avoided paying any federal income tax in 2018 while handing over just $68,000 in 2015 and $65,000 in 2017.

Most billionaires are able to pay such little tax because the government only taxes what it defines as income, so when the value of the stock they hold increases, their wealth isn't taxed. They can then borrow against the stock to pay living expenses.

Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.

Do you support this?

— Lorde Edge (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021

Musk later tweeted that he only receives payment from his companies in stock and doesn't take a cash salary or bonus, so "the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock." The BBC notes that he has made billions of dollars through a compensation package, which gives him power to exercise large amounts of stock options when Tesla meets performance targets and its shares hit certain prices.

Musk owed about 170.5 million Tesla shares as of 30 June. Selling 10% of those would amount to around $21 billion, according to Reuters' calculations.

Musk has been pretty quiet regarding the poll's outcome, other than to say that he "will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes."

While Musk appears to have been putting the decision of whether to sell his Tesla stock into the hands of his 62.7 million Twitter followers, he may have sold his holdings regardless. CNBC notes that Musk faces a billion-dollar tax bill in the coming months on the 22.8 million shares he was awarded as stock options in 2012. To exercise the options, Musk must pay tax on what he's made on those shares at their current price, which is around $28 billion. With a combined state and federal tax rate of 54.1%, that would amount to $15 billion. Musk previously said that he would be selling some of his options in the fourth quarter of this year because they were set to expire.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92120-tesla-shares-fall-after-twitter-approves-elon-musk.html

 

[VitalyT]

The mental ward has spoken. Sell your stock, Musk.

 

[Dimitriid]

I like the picture selected for the thumbnail: It perfectly encapsulates the attitude of a guy so rich he gets to brag about how even the government can't touch him and force him to pay taxes and he turns around and sells this as gospel to his tech bros followers.

He's not wrong by the way: All Billionaires and large corporations are basically immune to paying taxes: it is *YOU* the common folk, who have to pay for their infrastructure, their subsidized services, their low cost land, etc.

It's nice to put such an iconic face to basically encapsulate all of the problems of this late Capitalist dystopia we live in. In fact it's only missing an NFT token of Elon's smug smiling face that gets sold for 4,000,000 to one of his simps to sum up for future generations in the wastelands why they're all back to living on caves and barely surviving at all with less than 1% of humans still alive inside maybe 200 years if we're lucky.

 

[Sausagemeat]

He's not wrong by the way: All Billionaires and large corporations are basically immune to paying taxes: it is *YOU* the common folk, who have to pay for their infrastructure, their subsidized services, their low cost land, etc.

Not accurate. In western countries like the USA and U.K. billionaires pay the largest chunk of tax. They don’t pay tax on their stock but anytime they sell stock or move money in any form they get taxed. Currently according to various sources the top 1% richest people in the U.K. pay over 30% of all the countries tax income.

It seems you’re letting your jealous hatred of the rich/capitalism cloud the facts.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Not accurate. In western countries like the USA and U.K. billionaires pay the largest chunk of tax. They don’t pay tax on their stock but anytime they sell stock or move money in any form they get taxed. Currently according to various sources the top 1% richest people in the U.K. pay over 30% of all the countries tax income.

It seems you’re letting your jealous hatred of the rich/capitalism cloud the facts.

Even if they paid 100% it would never be enough for the parasites.

 

[EnTaroTzula]

Even if they paid 100% it would never be enough for the parasites.

Ya'll need to stop speaking truths before the parasites get insulted and go on a techspot cancel spree.

 

[koblongata]

He would of course, the secure of funding for infrastructure bill is great for everybody.

 

[wiyosaya]

Musky doing this through Tweeter is a f'ing joke. I sometimes wonder if he is trying to provoke charges from the SEC. The traditional way of doing this would be through an announcement to shareholders. Since he is a controlling interest in the stock, I wonder if he will face any SEC charges on the matter.

 

[king cleanass]

He would of course, the secure of funding for infrastructure bill is great for everybody.

Maybe if the infrastructure bill was actual infrastructure and not the usual pork barrel BS out of Washington. I’d be more supportive if he literally set $15 billion cash on fire.

At least then the value of my dollars would rise comparatively.

 

[wiyosaya]

It seems you’re letting your jealous hatred of the rich/capitalism cloud the facts.

All praise the great dogs Captialism and Musky.

 

[wiyosaya]

Even if they paid 100% it would never be enough for the parasites.

I think you are confusing who/what is parasitism.

 

[Sausagemeat]

All praise the great dogs Captialism and Musky.

Ok I will bite. I didn’t say that but it’s a million times better than Marx and Communism…

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

He's not wrong by the way: All Billionaires and large corporations are basically immune to paying taxes: it is *YOU* the common folk, who have to pay for their infrastructure, their subsidized services, their low cost land, etc.

I own a fair amount of Tesla stock, and I pay literally nothing in tax while selling/realizing about $20k of profits on it each year. If you actually look at capital gains tax rates, it significantly favors anyone with an annual income under 100 grand.

If I made more than that, I would only be “immune” from paying taxes for as long as I didn’t sell my stock, then I wouldn’t be immune. It’s similar to any 401k or traditional IRA: you’re immune to all taxation on it until you aren’t by taking distributions on it at retirement. You might divert $200k into retirement savings throughout life and end up with $1M without paying taxes on it for decades, but you will still pay taxes just like “Elon’s smug smiling face.”

 

[bviktor]

Even if they paid 100% it would never be enough for the parasites.

You should seek professional help.

 

[Guberian]

Well this is better then starving in a famine in Maoist China. Remember the entire population of China was lifted out of 3rd world poverty by capitalism.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

I think you are confusing who/what is parasitism.

Why?

 

[VaRmeNsI]

You should seek professional help.

Why?

 

[Sausagemeat]

Well this is better then starving in a famine in Maoist China. Remember the entire population of China was lifted out of 3rd world poverty by capitalism.

There are many anthropologists out there who believe that Chinese working class factory workers are enduring the hardest living conditions in all of human history. These people work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day doing monotonous tasks. They set up nets outside the factories to catch people trying to commit suicide and they are paid a pittance for the privilege.

As much as I hate communism, socialism or generally collectivist government ideologues, China is a very bad example of capitalism. Capitalism needs to be blended with liberty for it to benefit us.

 

[Guberian]

There are many anthropologists out there who believe that Chinese working class factory workers are enduring the hardest living conditions in all of human history. These people work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day doing monotonous tasks. They set up nets outside the factories to catch people trying to commit suicide and they are paid a pittance for the privilege.

As much as I hate communism, socialism or generally collectivist government ideologues, China is a very bad example of capitalism. Capitalism needs to be blended with liberty for it to benefit us.

Another example is industrialisation in the 1800s improved the lives of so many people.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Another example is industrialisation in the 1800s improved the lives of so many people.

That’s a better example. Personally I’d use a can of beans as a good case for capitalism.

In my local supermarket a can of beans comes in as low as 21p (£0.21). So this means that beans are grown, cooked and packaged into a metal container where the metal had to be mined, smelted and cut. This was then distributed to your local supermarket and all they want from you for this is the same amount of money you earn for 1.3 minutes of work at minimum wage.

 

[Danny101]

Not accurate. In western countries like the USA and U.K. billionaires pay the largest chunk of tax. They don’t pay tax on their stock but anytime they sell stock or move money in any form they get taxed. Currently according to various sources the top 1% richest people in the U.K. pay over 30% of all the countries tax income.

It seems you’re letting your jealous hatred of the rich/capitalism cloud the facts.

It's called Financial Literacy. Which those on top of the Leftist heap do understand. But in order to keep their hold on the lower classes they gaslight them with falsehoods and class warfare. Many, if not all the richest nowadays propagate Marxist, Fascist, and Globalist dogma. It's unreal the bullshit that continually gets spewed out currently. So much money laundering by the governments. Everything is corrupt at the moment. It's up to the people to demand change, and to do it possibly, forcefully. Of all the political/economic systems, capitalism has provided the most value, but even it can fail when corruption and cronyism is afoot. It has been said: "Socialism without Capitalism becomes Communism. Capitalism without Socialism, becomes Fascism." I don't know. Sounds interesting.