Tesla’s Musk Raised Billions Ahead of Twitter Bid

SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 19, 2020. Steve Nesius/Reuters

Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter Inc for $43 billion in cash, and the $16.4 billion he netted from sales of Tesla Inc shares last year could help.

“Musk could look to fund the transaction, if approved, through a combination of debt financing and potentially Tesla shares,” CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino said.

“Given the size of the transaction, we think it is conceivable that some Tesla shares could be sold given much of his wealth is tied to the company.”

Here’s a look at the string of transactions Musk made as he offloaded about 10 percent of his stake in the electric car maker to meet tax withholding obligations related to the exercise of stock options.

Data Shares Acquired Shares Sold Gross Proceeds

NOV. 8 2.2 mln

NOV. 8 934,091 $1.10 bln

NOV. 9 3.1 mln $3.35 bln

NOV. 10 500,000 $527.3 mln

NOV. 11 639,737 $687.3 mln

NOV. 12 1.2 mln $1.24 bln

NOV. 15 2.1 mln

NOV. 15 934,091 $930.7 mln

NOV. 16 2.1 mln

NOV. 16 934,091 $973.4 mln

NOV. 23 2.2 mln

934,091 $1.05 bln

DEC. 2 2.1 mln

934,091 $1.01 bln

Dec.9 2.2 mln

934,091 $963.2 mln

Dec.13 2.1 mln

934,091 $906.5 mln

Dec.16 2.2 mln

934,091 $884.1 mln

Dec.21 2.09 mln

934,091 $853.7 mln

Dec. 22 2.11 mln 934,091 $928.6 mln

Dec. 28 1.6 Mln 934,090 $1.02 bln

Total 22.9 mln 15.7 mln $16.4 bln

Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan warned of the possibility of more share sales to come.

“There is a risk if he (Musk) decides to sell more Tesla shares to fund the takeover which could put pressure on the stock.”

By Hyunjoo Jin