Business magnate, Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, amid a high-stakes legal battle with Twitter over a $44 billion buyout deal, legal filings published on Tuesday reveals.
According to filings published on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, the investor sold 7.9 million shares between 5 and 9 of August.
Musk wrote on Twitter late Tuesday:
“In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock.”
On the current deal with Twitter, the social network company is locked in a legal battle with the world’s richest man over his effort to walk away from the April agreement to buy the company, and a judge has ordered that a trial will begin in October.
Musk has some claims which has prompted him to file a countersuit. He accused Twitter of fraud and alleged the social media platform misled him about key aspects of its business before he agreed to a $44 billion buyout.
Meanwhile, Musk before preparing to finance the Twitter deal, sold around $8.5 billion worth of shares in the electric automobile company in April.
