The Tesla CEO, Elon Musk launched a poll and asks Twitter followers if he should sell his 10 percent of Tesla shares. Musk launched this poll in a response to the ‘billionaire tax’ proposed by Democrats in the US senate.
Musk had criticized this proposal of the billionaire tax. This would take effect on the billionaires and impose taxes on the long-term capital gain on assets, whether they have been sold or not.
In his tweet Musk said, “Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla 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?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021
Musk also stated on Twitter, “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.”
Musk said he will be stand by the results of the poll, whichever way it goes.
This poll received over 2 million responses by the time of writing this article. With more than 62 percent of his followers are responding positively to the proposal to sell the shares. The poll is scheduled to end around 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.
However, Elon Musk is currently the world’s richest person holding a wealth of around $300 billion, and owner of some futuristic firms like, SpaceX, Tesla, Nueralink.
According to Reuters, Musk’s shareholding in Tesla came at about 170 million shares as of June 30, and selling 1o per cent of his Tesla stock would make an amount of around $21 million.
This is something coming from Musk after president Joe Biden made a proposal to tax billionaires in the US congress to help them pay for the president’s social and climate change agenda.
According to analysts, Musk may have to sell his specific amount of shares as he has to pay taxes since a large number of options will expire next year.
Responding to his tweet Venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya wrote, “We are witnessing the Twitter masses deciding the outcome of a $25B coin flip.”
“Looking forward to the day when the richest person in the world paying some tax does not depend on a Twitter poll,” Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman tweeted.
Musk recently said on Twitter he’d sell $6 billion in Tesla stock and donate it to the World Food Program (WFP), provided the organization disclosed more information about how it spent its money. Musk and WFP head David Beasley has been engaging in a heated debate since Beasley last week challenged billionaires to give more of their wealth to end hunger.