Users of the social network Twitter said their weighty word – according to the results of a vote of more than 3.5 million people, Elon Musk must sell 10% of his Tesla shares. Earlier, the businessman put this issue to a vote on Twitter and promised that he would agree with any of the two possible decisions of the audience.
“I was ready for any outcome,” says Musk, who regularly makes provocative statements on Twitter. So far, he has not announced when and how he intends to sell his securities.
The vote was published by Musk after the Democratic Party of the United States initiated an additional tax on the super-rich. The new measures call for closer scrutiny of large shareholders – the latter are taxed only after the sale, and therefore shares are often viewed by lawmakers as a means of “legal” tax evasion.
Musk had already criticized the Democratic proposals in late October. On Saturday, he returned to the question, tweeting that he intends to sell 10% of Tesla shares if Twitter users vote for it.
We kow that as of June, Musk owned about 17% of Tesla shares; with a total value of about $ 208.37 billion. By selling 10% of the shares, he expects to earn more than $ 20 billion.
According to the poll, 57.9% of users voted for the sale of shares – perhaps Musk expected a different outcome. One way or another, not everyone supported him in such an undertaking. Many users have already noted that the injection of such a number of shares into the market will inevitably and negatively affect their price at trading on Monday; which will hit the pockets of ordinary shareholders who have small savings invested in securities.
According to online sources, Apple has recruited former Tesla engineer Cristopher Moore; who helped develop the autonomous piloting system used in Elon Musk’s electric cars. At Apple, Moore will join the automotive software development team led by Stuart Bowers; who also worked at Tesla until mid-2019.
The move signals that Apple is moving forward with the development of its own autonomous piloting system. Apparently, a new valuable employee will help this by becoming part of Apple’s highly secretive division. Apple officials have never publicly disclosed the company’s plans to launch autonomous vehicles; so it is difficult to gauge the progress of the developers in this direction.
During his time at Tesla, Moore was noted for public hints that Elon Musk exaggerated the capabilities of the autopilot used in the company’s electric vehicles. This year, Moore testified at the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which is investigating the capabilities of Tesla’s autopilot. Note that Apple’s automotive division also undergoes frequent reshuffles. Not so long ago, Kevin Lynch, who previously led the development of software for the Apple Watch, took the place of project leader instead of Doug Field. The division includes many former employees of Tesla and other automotive companies.