Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has sold Tesla shares worth 4,000 million dollars -4,001 million euros- in the last days after the purchase of the social network, according to official documents. The funds would allow to face the purchase itself and the turns that he intends on the platform.
The South African businessman got rid of 19.5 million shares of Tesla between Friday, November 4 and this Tuesday, November 8, according to reports from the SEC, the US stock market regulator. They do not indicate whether the sales were already planned.
The funds make it possible to finance the 44,000 million that it has promised to pay for the social network and its changes in the company. Musk had added banks, including Morgan Stanley, and various fortunes to the deal to help cover the cost. His original share of the deal was about $15.5 billion, according to analysts at Wedbush. Since the purchase was announced, Musk has sold some 18 billion worth of shares, according to data from Bloomberg.
But one thing is clear: Twitter loses money. About 4 million dollars a day, the businessman said last week. Since Musk took over, several big companies have paused their ads on the platform, waiting to see how it evolves under the billionaire's leadership. Advertising reports 90% of revenue.
The billionaire's drastic moves to cut costs, including laying off half the staff and then asking some to return, have resulted in a hectic two weeks. "It looks like Musk is setting himself up for things to continue to be bad on Twitter for the next year," said Gene Munster, an analyst at Loup Ventures, after the share sales were made public. "He is preparing for Twitter to be a money hole," he added.
Tesla shares have lost half their value since the start of the year. As much of Musk's fortune is tied to the brand's titles, his wealth has fallen below $200 billion, although he remains the richest on the planet on the Forbes list.
