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Tesla boss Elon Musk: tax-friendly equity investments instead of salaries
Photo: Jae C. Hong / AP
Tesla boss Elon Musk has again silvered shares in his group in order to be able to pay higher taxes.
The entrepreneur sold around 934,000 papers for about one billion US dollars, as emerged from mandatory notifications to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday night.
This means that Musk has sold around ten million Tesla shares worth almost eleven billion dollars (9.6 billion euros) since he agreed to sell part of his shares in the electric car manufacturer in early November.
He had obtained a public vote from his followers on Twitter.
Musk had Twitter users vote whether he should part with ten percent of his 17 percent Tesla stake in order to be able to pay taxes.
To achieve this goal, Musk has to sell more Tesla shares.
Musk is the company's largest single shareholder.
Wealth through equity investments instead of salary
The Tesla boss is considered the richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of around $ 285 billion.
But his wealth is largely based on equity stakes, which he uses to get paid for his work instead of a salary.
These are only taxed when they are sold, which is why he received criticism from politicians in the USA because rich people like Musk avoid paying higher taxes when they pay them.
However, Musk will soon face a hefty tax claim.
As soon as he converts his options into stocks, which he has to start soon.
His options on shares expire after ten years.
The Democrats of US President Joe Biden want to enforce a so-called billionaire tax on profits on securities regardless of their sale.
kig / dpa
