Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, lost a staggering N3.62 trillion on Tuesday as a result of investors selling the company’s stock in response to news that Twitter shareholders had accepted his purchase proposal.
Investors engaged in a sell off, dumping the share for as low as $292.13, which is -4.04% lower than the $304.42 Tesla stock sold for on Monday. As a result, Musk lost $8.3 billion, with his wealth depreciating by -3.03%, dragging his total networth down to $265.6 billion.
Tesla investors selling off their shares could be linked to Musk selling around $8 billion worth of Tesla stock to fund the deal, and with the shareholders approving his offer, Musk could be forced to sell more shares as Twitter has dragged the billionaire to court to ensure he buys the social media company as agreed.
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Their vote is a blow to Musk, as it comes at a period the Tesla majority investor is trying to back out of the $54.20 per share offer, which represents a total of $44 billion. Twitter currently has a market valuation of $31.94 billion.
The court case is set for October 17, but prior to the shareholders’ decision, Musk had also attempted to get out of the deal last week by accusing Twitter of breaching their acquisition contract.
Musk said the company paid whistleblower and hacker, Peiter Zatko, $7.75 million, after the former Security chief released an 84-page whistleblower complaint disclosing the lapses of the social media company.
He explained that not informing him before the payment was made is a breach of court, but Twitter described his statement as “invalid and wrongful.”