Since Jan’21, Elon Musk has been the world’s richest man and at present, continues to hold the title. He has a current net worth of almost $265.7 billion, most of which derives from the Electric-Vehicle giant, Tesla Inc (TSLA: US). Earlier this year, Musk has been in the news for multiple reasons, the most prominent being his move to purchase Twitter Inc (TWTR: US).

TSLA sales return

From August 5 to 9, Elon Musk sold nearly $6.8 billion worth of TSLA stock. In total, he sold 7.9 million shares. Musk previously sold a large bulk of the EV stock back in Apr’22, and most assumed the motivation behind these trades was to acquire Twitter even back then. Presently, his stake in Tesla is 14.91%.

On August 10, Musk replied to a tweet asking whether or not he had more sales of the EV stock pending, to which he replied no. He added in his reply, that the sales are in case he will be required to purchase Twitter at the conclusion of his ongoing lawsuit. 

TSLA stock was priced at $864.51 on August 5, when filings of the CEO’s sales first began coming in. Up until August 16, its value rose to $919.69, increasing by 6.38. However, the stock has still declined by 23.35% year-to-date but still remains at the top of the most popular EV stocks currently.

Other developments from Musk & Tesla

Earlier this year, Musk made headlines continuously for his claims to buy Twitter Inc. The saga commenced with Musk disclosing his ownership of TWTR shares, and later being named as the latest possible addition to Twitter’s board of directors. Musk refused the offer and later, near the mid of April’22, he made an offer to buy the social media platform for $43 billion. This value made the tech deal the third most expensive ever in history, but the course of this deal did not run smoothly even as Twitter accepted Musk’s offer to be turned into a private company. 

Twitter filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in Jul’22, saying Musk has shown no intention of honoring his earlier obligations to Twitter and is walking away from the billion-dollar deal. Musk responded by filing a countersuit against the social media platform accusing them of fraud. He alleged that Twitter had omitted to mention some core aspects of the platform before the deal was finalized. On July 19, the trial is set to proceed in October in the state of Delaware. Musk, on the other hand, continues to be active on Twitter, having recently celebrated Tesla’s completion of 3 million cars

On July 2, Tesla disclosed its Q2 earnings for the year, accumulating total revenues up to $16.9 million. This was a 42% rise year on year. Elsewhere, the company is reportedly preparing for a 3-1 stock split, scheduled to go into effect on August 25, 2022.