Elon Musk Just Sold $4.8 Billion Worth Of Tesla Shares

Tuesday, 26 April, marked the biggest one-day drop in Tesla shares since 2020 at 12 per cent.

Some reports suggest that Musk has sold the shares to help fund his venture with Twitter, however, this is unconfirmed.

Today, Musk tweeted: No Further TSLA shares planned after today.

At the time of writing, Tesla shares are currently trading at 877.51 USD, which is quite a drop with highs of 1145.45 USD earlier this month.

James Anderson, who is a portfolio manager at Baillie Gifford, and is one of the carmaker’s earliest investors and a top 10 shareholder, said: "I’ve learnt that it’s wrong to underestimate his extraordinary energy and bandwidth.

"What we are hearing suggests that [Tesla] is running so well that Musk isn’t or doesn’t need to be involved day-to-day."

Promoting 'free speech', Musk said: "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. 

"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.

"Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

Earlier this year, Musk became the largest shareholder in Twitter after taking a 9.2 percent stake in the company.

However, just this month, he went a step further and bid $54.20 per share to take full control.

Bret Taylor, Twitter's Independent Board Chair, has said: "The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. 

"The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders."

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said: "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."