KEY POINTS
- Musk has sold nearly $4 billion worth of shares
- The Tesla CEO says Twitter is losing $4 per day
- Musk had previously sold roughly $15 billion worth shares
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has lost nearly $20 billion worth of shares in Tesla since he announced his bid to purchase the social media platform Twitter. The Tesla CEO’s fortunes have also declined as he continues to find ways to turn around Twitter’s finances.
Twitter’s new boss has just sold about $3.95 billion worth of shares in his electric vehicle company Tuesday, CNBC reported. The company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicated that Musk was moving to acquire cash after he completed the acquisition of Twitter.
In April, days after his Twitter buyout was confirmed by the social media company’s board, Musk sold an estimated $8.4 billion worth of his Tesla shares.
In August, following a lawsuit that almost forced Musk into a trial for failing to complete the acquisition, the SpaceX founder offloaded roughly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares.
The 51-year-old tech mogul later said he was done selling stocks. However, it appears the latest troubles inside his new company may have forced him to sell again.
Furthermore, Musk’s fortunes have been cut nearly in half from its peak at $340 billion last year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth is now at an estimated $177 billion. The business mogul lost about $92 billion this year so far.
Last week, Twitter went wild when Musk announced the new Twitter Blue subscription service, which will charge $8 a month for verification.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
While the overhauled subscription may provide Twitter some cash, it wouldn’t have been enough. Musk himself said the company was losing $4 million per day, which resulted in a mass layoff last week as he wasted no time cutting costs.
Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.
Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
A number of advertisers have paused ads on Twitter. General Mills spokesperson Kelsey Roemhildt said the food company will “continue to monitor this new direction and evaluate our marketing spend,” the Associated Press reported.
Less than a week after he completed the Twitter buyout, Musk reportedly started actively trying to get advertisers on his side as concerns increased about how he will handle the company.
Some advertisers reportedly expressed issues with Twitter’s focus on product development instead of policy, Axios reported. Others were worried about its commitment to content moderation enforcement and policies.
Musk has other ideas to turn Twitter into a cash cow. He has reportedly asked Twitter engineers to begin work on a reboot of Vine, a short-form video app that was discontinued in 2016, and is planning to eventually turn the platform into “the everything app.” But for now, it appears he is focused on making a cash grab so the company stays afloat.
