The world's richest man has promised to abide by the results of the Twitter poll. Photo / AP
The world's richest man has promised to abide by the results of the Twitter poll. Photo / AP
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Twitter poll asking if he should sell 10 per cent of his shares has ended — with the masses voting in favour of him selling the Tesla stock.
The vote, which closed this morning, means he could sell $35 billion (US$25 billion) worth of stock — amid a debate on whether the mega-rich should pay more tax.
"Much is made lately of unrealised gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10 per cent of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?" he asked his 62.6 million Twitter followers.
He was evidently serious, as the world's richest man followed up by writing, "I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes."
He further explained, "Note, I do not take a cash salary or bonus from anywhere. I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock."
There were 3,519,252 votes and 57.9 per cent voted in favour of him selling the stock — which could leave him with a hefty tax bill. The poll closed at 9.10am, Monday NZ time.
Tesla's market capitalisation is about US$1.22 trillion and Musk owns 193.3 million Tesla shares - worth about US$250 billion.
And 10 per cent of that is, obviously, about US$25 billion.
The poll is presumably a response to the proposed "billionaires tax" being pushed by US Democrats.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has proposed a new tax on unrealised gains on publicly traded assets for some of the wealthiest Americans.
He responded to Musk's poll by writing, "Whether or not the world's wealthiest man pays any taxes at all shouldn't depend on the results of a Twitter poll. It's time for the Billionaires Income Tax."
In October, when releasing details of the proposal, Wyden said, "There are two tax codes in America. The first is mandatory for workers who pay taxes out of every paycheck. The second is voluntary for billionaires who defer paying taxes for years, if not indefinitely.
"The billionaires income tax would ensure billionaires pay tax every year, just like working Americans. No working person in America thinks it's right that they pay their taxes and billionaires don't."
At the time, Musk responded by writing, "Eventually, they run out of other people's money and then they come for you."
US Senator Ron Wyden has proposed a new tax on unrealised gains on publicly traded assets for some of the wealthiest Americans. Photo / AP
Musk also reportedly proposed selling off some Tesla stock during the Code Conference in September.
"I have a bunch of [stock] options that are expiring early next year, so that's a huge block of options we'll sell in Q4," he told journalist Kara Swisher.
She had asked Musk if he was surprised at the Tesla stock's meteoric price rise. This morning it was selling for US$1,222.09.
Musk responded, "I have gone on record and said I think [Tesla's] stock price is too high, in my opinion."
