Musk sells $8.5 billion in Tesla stock to fund Twitter acquisition

Elon Musk sold roughly $8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund his purchase of Twitter.

In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday and Friday, Musk disclosed the sale of 9.6 million shares. The trades were conducted for a total of $822.68 to $999.13.

Tesla Inc's stock was trading at roughly $904.50 on Friday.

Tesla's CEO, the world's richest man, tweeted Thursday night that he has no plans to sell any more of the company's stock.

Musk revealed on Monday that he has agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion. Analysts believe the buy will make Tesla investors anxious since Musk will be distracted by Twitter and less focused on running the electric car company, as well as selling a big number of Tesla shares to fund the purchase. Tesla's largest shareholder is Musk.

Musk is Tesla's largest shareholder.

Tesla shares fell 12 percent on Tuesday, the worst single-day decline since September 8, 2020. The stock is up more than 3% on Friday, but it is still down 10% for the week.

Twitter's stock increased 1.2 percent to $49.72, still significantly below the acquisition price.

Shareholders will weigh in on Musk's Twitter deal before it is finalized. Regulators in the United States and other countries where Twitter operates will follow suit.

Despite complaints from some Twitter staff and users concerned about Musk's attitude on free speech and what it would mean for harassment and hate speech on the network, few roadblocks are foreseen so far.