According to reports with the US financial watchdog, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold an additional 19.5 million shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer for $3.95 billion (£3.4 billion).
The announcement comes less than two weeks after the richest man in the world finished acquiring Twitter for $44 billion.
Since the beginning of this year, the share price of Tesla has decreased by more than 50%.
Separately, due to a potential issue with its power-steering, Tesla is recalling slightly under 40,000 of its cars in the US.
The newest sales, which occurred in the previous week, are unknown at this time.
With the most recent sale, Mr. Musk has now sold about $20 billion worth of Tesla shares since announcing earlier this year that he had acquired a stake in Twitter.
He sold $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stock in April and another $7 billion worth in August of this year.
A three-for-one stock split was authorized by Tesla shareholders in August as well, which contributed to some of the share price decline.
Recalls of electric cars
Due to a possible power-steering issue, Tesla recalled slightly over 40,000 of its vehicles in the US on Tuesday.
The maker of electric cars warned that potholes or uneven roads could cause the vehicles’ power-steering assist system to malfunction.
Elon Musk sells almost $4bn more of Tesla shares after Twitter takeover
— DTN Breaking News (@DTNBreakingNews) November 9, 2022
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it can necessitate more steering effort, especially at slow speeds, raising the danger of an accident.
To re-calibrate the system, Tesla has made a software update available.
It stated that it was not aware of any accidents or fatalities related to the issue.
Twitter layoffs
Mr. Musk has eliminated almost 50% of the personnel at Twitter since he took over the company last month.
Mr. Musk wrote in a tweet that the company is losing more than $4 million every day and that he has “no choice” but to reduce staff.
He has also cited a “huge loss in revenue” as the result of “activist groups lobbying advertising.”
The social media site is changing, and part of the change is charging users $8 for blue check verification marks.
