London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 27, 2026

Elon Musk says he's using a Twitter poll to determine the future of 10% of his Tesla shares

Elon Musk says he's using a Twitter poll to determine the future of 10% of his Tesla shares

Musk previously indicated he was likely to sell "a huge block" of his options in the fourth quarter.

Elon Musk on Saturday asked his 62.5 million Twitter followers to determine the future of a chunk of his Tesla holdings.

Twitter polls are informal, however, and Musk previously said he was likely to sell “a huge block” of his options in the fourth quarter.

At an appearance at the Code Conference in September, Musk said when his stock options expire at Tesla, his marginal tax rate will be over 50% and that he was already planning to sell soon.

“I have a bunch of options that are expiring early next year, so ... a huge block of options will sell in Q4 — because I have to or they’ll expire,” Musk said at the conference.

Other current and former Tesla board members, including Robyn Denholm, Kimbal Musk, Ira Ehrenpreis and Antonio Gracias have also sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of their Tesla shares since Oct. 28, as the company’s stock rallied.

Shares climbed after a record third quarter for Tesla, and an announcement from rental car company Hertz that it was ordering 100,000 Tesla vehicles for its fleet. Musk waited for a week after Hertz made its announcement to clarify that Tesla had not signed a contract with the rental car company yet. Before he made that statement, he taunted investors who were short shares of Tesla on Twitter, writing: “Tesla Hertz shorts.”


Since the Hertz announcement, Tesla shares have risen by around 34% and so has Elon Musk’s net worth.

According to InsiderScore Director of Research Ben Silverman, Tesla had just over 1 billion shares outstanding as of late October. If Musk exercised his options today, the number of shares outstanding would increase by just over 2%, InsiderScore calculated. Silverman predicts the effect on shareholders will be minimum, partly because the sales won’t be a surprise.

“Musk will likely continue to be vocal about what he’s doing — exercising the options because they’re close to expiration, selling stock because of the enormous tax bill and because of the liquidity of Tesla shares,” he said.

Suggesting that he was actually responding to criticism that he’s avoided paying his fair share of taxes, rather than simply managing his options holdings, the Tesla CEO asked users on Saturday to decide whether or not he should hold or sell 10% of his stock.

“Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?” he said. Musk added a poll function, so users could vote “Yes” or “No.”

“I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes,” Musk, one of the world’s richest people, added. It wasn’t immediately clear what that proposed sale would amount to. As of last December, Musk owned about 22.4% of the company’s shares outstanding.


Billionaires can benefit from tax-avoidance strategies not offered to people whose earnings come from conventional wage income. Extreme wealth is often largely based on the rising value of stock and real estate that is not considered taxable unless those assets are sold.

Earlier this summer, ProPublica, an investigative news site, reported on Musk’s tax bill as part of a massive analysis of billionaires’ finances. The outlet found that Musk’s income tax bill amounted to zero in 2018. Musk later shot back, saying the reporting was “tricky” and “misleading.” He added the number was so low because he does not draw a salary, so his cash compensation is close to zero.

“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,” he said on Saturday.

Of his considerable holdings, Musk has options for 22,862,050 shares at $6.24 due to expire on Aug. 13, 2022. These options were awarded to him in 2012.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Middlesbrough House Fire Kills Woman and Seven-Year-Old Girl
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Return to UK Amid Renewed Media Attention
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After London Collision
Greenpeace Threatens Legal Action Over Crown Estate Offshore Wind Leasing
Nvidia Revenue Surges to Ninety-Six Point Two Billion Dollars on Artificial Intelligence Demand
Meta Agrees to Global Youth Safety Changes Following Multi-State Legal Settlement
UK Government Plans Autumn Summit With Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Leaders
CMA Caps Veterinary Prescription Fees at Twenty-One Pounds
Thames Water Pilot Records Forever Chemicals at Thirteen Times the Legal Limit
Kent Meningitis Outbreak Reaches Thirty-Four Confirmed Cases
Forty Children Missing From UK Asylum Accommodation Remain Unaccounted For
UK Court Upholds VAT on Private School Fees
US Designates Palestine Action as Foreign Terrorist Organization
UK Approves Massive New Chinese Embassy Complex in London Amid Security Concerns
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Visits Kyiv and Offers Cruise Missile Designs to Ukraine
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Andy Burnham Drops Plan to Cap Political Donations
Conservative Leadership Contest Intensifies as Robert Jenrick Attacks Kemi Badenoch
French-Born Defence Secretary Wes Streeting Condemns Homophobic Abuse Since Taking Office
UK Government Delays Commercial Robotaxi Rollout in London Over Regulatory Gaps
NHS Complaints About Autism and ADHD Care Waiting Times Triple Over Five Years
UK Government Launches 10,000 Work Placements for Young People With Sainsbury's
NHS England to Offer Free At-Home Cervical Cancer Screening Kits
EU Biometric Border Checks Cause Delays of Up to Five Hours for British Travellers
US Imposes Economic Sanctions on UK-Based Protest Group Palestine Action
Two Planned UK Datacentres Could Produce More Annual Carbon Emissions Than ExxonMobil's Entire UK Operation
London Surgeons Complete First Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Brain Tumour Removal
UK Services Growth Rebounds as Consumer Confidence Reaches Two-Year High
Ofgem Confirms Four Percent October Energy Price Cap Increase for UK Households
Government Considers Insolvency Law Changes to Bring Thames Water Into Public Ownership
Andy Burnham Signs Artificial Intelligence Defence Pact During Visit to Kyiv
Church of England Faces Renewed Scrutiny Over Historical Safeguarding Failures
Reform UK Proposes £30 Tax Credit for Long HMRC Telephone Queues
Greater Manchester Secures More Than £100 Million to Upgrade Victorian Railway Stations
East Midlands Railway Urges Essential Travel Ahead of Bank Holiday Strikes
UK Economy Grows 0.4 Percent in Second Quarter as Global and Energy Pressures Weigh
UK Government and Sainsbury’s Launch Plan for 10,000 Youth Work Experience Placements
Scottish Government Plans Tighter Remote-Working Rules and Possible Voluntary Redundancies
Scottish Budget Faces More Than £700 Million Reduction After Tax Revenue Adjustment
Nearly 100 Labour MPs Press Andy Burnham to Back Electoral Reform Commission
UK Energy Price Cap Rises Four Percent to £1,723 as Middle East Conflict Drives Wholesale Gas Costs
Turnbull Warns AUKUS Could Leave Australia Without Promised Nuclear Submarines
California Billionaires Pour More Than $150 Million Into Fight Over Proposed Wealth Tax
German Broadcaster Goes Dark to Warn AfD Could End Its Saxony-Anhalt Service
Badenoch Plans Major Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle as Tories Struggle in Third Place
UK Government Demands Action Against Social Media Content Promoting Dangerous Driving
×