Tesla hits 2-year low on Musk’s $4 bil. worth of stock sales

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Tesla shares slid to their lowest level in nearly two years on Wednesday after Chief Executive Elon Musk disclosed he sold another $3.95 billion worth of shares in the electric-vehicle maker.

Shares ended down 7.2 percent at $177.59, the lowest level since Nov. 23, 2020.

Musk’s latest share sale fueled jitters about the fallout of his $44 billion Twitter buy on the world’s most valuable automaker, analysts said. The acquisition sparked investor concerns, including whether he would be distracted from running Tesla or divert resources to the social media company. Some investors also feared the possible impact on Tesla’s sales and brand, as well as potential pressure on Tesla from countries trying to control online speech.

“He might have needed the money to really finalize the Twitter deal but restructuring the company and righting the ship is going to prove to be more costly than he probably expected,” OANDA senior market analyst Ed Moya said.

“I think investors are concerned that this might not be the end of his stock sales,” he added.

Tesla shares have fallen nearly 60 percent since touching a record high on Nov. 4 of last year. Four days after that, Musk started unloading his shares.

The latest sale brings the total amount of Tesla stock sold by Musk since last November to about $36 billion — despite his having said earlier that he would sell no more of his shares.

Musk “yet again loses more credibility with investors and his loyalists in a boy who cried wolf moment,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said.