Elon Musk wants to sell ten percent of his Tesla shares if the Twitter community votes for it.
The result of the vote is binding for him.
Palo Alto - Elon Musk has a large following worldwide, thanks in part to his spectacular Twitter posts.
Two words and two emojis * from him were enough to stop the decline in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in May.
He has also announced to Twitter that he will donate six billion dollars if the UN World Food Program can show that it will solve world hunger.
Now the Tesla founder is putting the crown on it.
Elon Musk * asked on Saturday (November 6th) his more than 62 million Twitter followers to vote on whether he should part with some of his shares in the electric car manufacturer.
"Lately there has been a lot of talk about unrealized profits as a means of tax avoidance," writes the multibillionaire.
"So I propose to sell ten percent of my Tesla shares."
Musk explained that he didn't receive any cash wages or bonuses.
Therefore, selling shares is the only way for him to become taxable.
Musk puts a vote on the sale of Tesla shares: the majority of Twitter users are in favor
Musk promised to stick to the result of the vote, no matter what the outcome.
By 10.30 a.m. CET, just over 56 percent had voted yes.
The vote will run until 7.30 p.m. CET.
If nothing changes in this development, Musk will probably have to make his promise come true.
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Elon Musk lets Twitter users vote on whether to sell ten percent of his Tesla shares.
© Britta Pedersen / dpa
According to Bloomberg, Musk owned about 17 percent of Tesla * shares, valued at more than $ 208 billion at the end of June.
With a sale of shares, he would have around $ 21 billion in his account in one fell swoop, on which he would have to pay taxes, however.
That is probably Musk's intention, as his post shows.
So far he is known more as a tax avoidant.
So he announced that he wanted to move away from California.
The goal is Texas, where the tax rate is much lower.
Musk lets vote on sale of Tesla shares: electric car maker only part of total assets
The super-rich have been criticized * in the US for building up enormous fortunes thanks to their securities without paying taxes on them.
Taxes are only due when shares are sold.
The US Democrats want to propose a tax reform that changes that.
However, Tesla stock is only part of Musk's total fortune.
Among other things, he also owns shares in the space company SpaceX *.
With an estimated $ 338 billion, the Tesla founder is considered the richest man in the world, according to Bloomberg.
This means that he should be able to cope with the tax payment on a fraction of his wealth.
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List of rubric lists: © Britta Pedersen / dpa
