Factbox: Tesla's Musk raised billions ahead of Twitter bid

By
Reuters
SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US January 19, 2020. — Reuters
SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US January 19, 2020. — Reuters

Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter for $43 billion in cash, and the $16.4 billion he netted from sales of Tesla shares last year could help.

"Musk could look to fund the transaction, if approved, through a combination of debt financing and potentially Tesla shares," CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino said.

"Given the size of the transaction, we think it is conceivable that some Tesla shares could be sold given much of his wealth is tied to the company."

Here's a look at the string of transactions Musk made as he offloaded about 10% of his stake in the electric car maker to meet tax withholding obligations related to the exercise of stock options.

DATE
SHARES ACQUIRED
SHARES SOLD
GROSS PROCEEDS
November 8
2.2 mln
November 8
934,091
$1.10 bln
November 9
3.1 mln
$3.35 bln
November 10
500,000
$527.3 mln
November 11
639,737
$687.3 mln
November 12
1.2 mln
$1.24 bln
November 15
2.1 mln
November 15
934,091
$930.7 mln
November 16
2.1 mln
November 16
934,091
$973.4 mln
November 23
2.2 mln
934,091
$1.05 bln
December 2
2.1 mln
934,091
$1.01 bln
December 9
2.2 mln
934,091
$963.2 mln
December 13
2.1 mln
934,091
$906.5 mln
December 16
2.2 mln
934,091
$884.1 mln
December 21
2.09 mln
934,091
$853.7 mln
December 22
2.11 mln
934,091
$928.6 mln
December 28
1.6 Mln
934,090
$1.02 bln
Total
22.9 mln
15.7 mln
$16.4 bln

Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan warned of the possibility of more share sales to come.

"There is a risk if he (Musk) decides to sell more Tesla shares to fund the takeover which could put pressure on the stock."