Tesla stock price drops as Elon Musk sells $US3.58 billion in shares

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold approximately 22 million shares in the electric-car specialist as the company’s stock price hits a two-year low.

Tesla’s stock price has fallen to its lowest point in more than two years, coinciding with CEO of the US electric-car giant, Elon Musk, selling $US3.58 billion ($AU5.34 billion) worth of shares in the company.

According to business publication Bloomberg, Mr Musk’s disposed Tesla stock amounted to approximately 22 million shares, although he remains the car-maker’s majority shareholder with a 13 per cent stake in the company.

Shortly before Mr Musk’s Tesla shares were sold, the executive uploaded a post on Twitter claiming: “I will make sure Tesla shareholders benefit from Twitter long-term”.

At the close of trade on 14 December (US time), Tesla’s shares were valued at $US156.29 each – its lowest price since late November 2020 and far away from a peak of $US407.76, achieved on 5 November 2021.

Tesla’s share price has almost halved since reaching its most recent high of $US308.73 on 20 September – a month before Mr Musk claimed the electric-car giant could overtake Apple and Aramco to become the world’s most valuable company.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Since Mr Musk’s claim was made on 19 October, Tesla’s market capitalisation – the total number of shares multiplied by the share price – has fallen from about $US696 billion ($AU1.04 trillion) to less than $US500 billion ($AU745 billion).

The recent decline in Tesla’s share prices has coincided with Mr Musk purchasing and becoming the CEO of Twitter, having acquired the social media platform for $US44 billion ($AU65.62 billion) on 27 October.

Bloomberg reports Mr Musk has sold close to $US40 billion ($AU59.65 billion) worth of Tesla shares since late last year, despite claiming he would not offload any more stock in the car-maker after April 29 2022.

Recent events have led to Mr Musk losing his title as the world’s richest person, with Forbes reporting his $US175 billion ($AU261 billion) net worth has been surpassed by Louis Vuitton owner Bernard Arnault, who is worth more than $US184 billion ($AU274 billion).

While Tesla has faced numerous production setbacks since January, the company is on track to eclipse one million annual sales worldwide for the first time in its history, having delivered 908,573 cars between January to September 2022.

Tesla’s previous yearly sales record was set last year with 936,172 cars sold, an 87.4 increase on the 499,550 delivered 12 months prior.

In Australia, Tesla is the market leader for electric car sales, with 17,328 examples reported as sold between the start of January and end of November 2022.

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