Tesla’s Musk sells more shares worth $687 million

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk disclosed an additional share sale worth about $687 million in the electric-car maker, regulatory filings showed on Friday, after offloading about $5 billion in stock earlier in the week.

Musk sold 587,638 and 52,099 shares held by his trust on Nov. 11 in multiple transactions, according to two separate filings.

Tesla shares were up 0.5 per cent at $1,069 in premarket trading.

Musk, the world’s richest person and Tesla’s top shareholder, tweeted last weekend that he would sell 10 per cent of his stock if users of the social media platform approved the move.

In the first round of share sale, filings showed Musk’s trust sold nearly 3.6 million shares in Tesla, worth around $4 billion, while he also sold another 934,000 shares for $1.1 billion to cover tax obligations after exercising options to acquire nearly 2.2 million shares.

Prior to the sale, Musk owned a stake of about 23 per cent in Tesla, including stock options.

Musk had previously said he would have to exercise a large number of stock options in the next three months, which would create a big tax bill. Selling some of his stock could free up funds to pay the taxes.