Elon Musk sells $4 BILLION of Tesla shares in third-biggest dump since launching bid to buy Twitter

Elon Musk‘s net worth dropped below $200 billion on Tuesday as investors dumped Tesla Inc shares on fears the top executive and largest shareholder of the world’s most valuable electric-vehicle maker is more preoccupied with Twitter. 

Musk now has a net worth of $197.4 billion, according to Forbes, with a big share of that coming from his nearly 15 percent stake in Tesla, which has a market value of $622billion. 

Investors initially fled Tesla on worries over share sale by Musk, who has divested at least $15billion worth of stock. He closed the $44billion deal last month with $13billion in loans and a $33.5billion equity commitment.

Now Wall Street fears that Musk has stretched himself too thin at a time when the EV maker is ramping up production and faces rising competition.

‘It seems like Elon Musk is spending 100% of the time on Twitter and you know, it might need more capital,’ said Jay Hatfield at Infrastructure Capital Management.

Since buying Twitter, Musk has made very few tweets on Tesla, a practice that helped him gain traction on the platform. He has instead used Twitter to announce plans for the social media company such as the $8 per month subscription for blue tick verification.

Elon Musk ‘s net worth dropped below $200 billion on Tuesday as investors dumped Tesla Inc shares on fears the top executive and largest shareholder of the world’s most valuable electric-vehicle maker is more preoccupied with Twitter

Musk now has a net worth of $197.4 billion, according to Forbes , with a big share of that coming from his nearly 15 percent stake in Tesla, which has a market value of $622billion 

Investors initially fled Tesla on worries over share sale by Musk, who has divested at least $15billion worth of stock. He closed the $44billion deal last month with $13billion in loans and a $33.5billion equity commitment

It’s Musk’s third-biggest stock dump from Tesla since buying the social media giant, according to CNBC. This year, he sold over $8 billion worth of stock in April and roughly $7 billion worth in August.

The net worth of the world’s richest person, who also owns rocket company SpaceX, is roughly $40billion more than the second richest person, LVMH-owner Bernard Arnault.

Tesla shares were down 2 percent at $193.7 in afternoon trading, falling for a third straight session.

Musk pledged to provide $46.5billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covered the $44billion price tag and the closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, committed to provide $13 billion in debt financing.

The billionaire had tried to walk away from the deal in May, alleging that Twitter understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform. This led to a series of lawsuits between the two parties.

It’s Musk’s third-biggest stock dump from Tesla since buying the social media giant, according to CNBC . This year, he sold over $8 billion worth of stock in April and roughly $7 billion worth in August

The net worth of the world’s richest person, who also owns rocket company SpaceX, is roughly $40billion more than the second richest person, LVMH-owner Bernard Arnault

The billionaire had tried to walk away from the deal in May, alleging that Twitter understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform. This led to a series of lawsuits between the two parties 

Tesla and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Musk has dealt with several controversies since becoming the ‘Chief Twit’ as he put it.

Twitter on Saturday updated its app in Apple’s App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks as it seeks to shore up revenue.

Benefits of the verification service would include ‘half the ads’, the ability to post longer videos to Twitter and priority ranking for quality content, Twitter said.

But earlier on Sunday, the New York Times reported Twitter is delaying the rollout of verification check marks to subscribers of its new service until after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

In a sign of more confusion after Musk’s takeover, Twitter is now reaching out to dozens of employees who lost their jobs and asking them to return, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake. Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the report said, citing people familiar with the moves.