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Tesla board member Kimbal Musk sold some of his stock in the electric care company just before his brother, founder and CEO Elon Musk, upset the share price by polling his Twitter followers on whether he should sell some of his holdings.
Jerod Harris | Getty Images
All told, Kimbal Musk sold off about $109 million of Tesla stock Friday, one day before his brother’s Twitter poll, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
He bought 25,000 shares for $74.17, then sold 88,500 shares at an average price of about $1,230 and donated an additional 25,000.
Elon Musk sank Tesla shares after he polled his 62.8 million Twitter followers on whether he should sell his shares.
“Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock,” he wrote on the social media platform. “Do you support this?”
3,519,252 people voted in a somewhat close draw, with 57.9% of voters saying yes and 42.1% saying no. He vowed to “abide by the results” of the poll, no matter what they were.
The question and its subsequent results brought Tesla stock down over 5% in pre market trading on Monday morning.
Musk noted in a follow-up Tweet that he does “not take a cash salary or bonus from anywhere” and that in only owning stock, he can only pay personal taxes by selling said stock.
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