Elon Musk sold another $3.58 billion of Tesla stock this week, but did not disclose where the proceeds will go.
The Tesla CEO, and the new owner of Twitter, sold the shares between Monday and Wednesday, according to a report released Wednesday night by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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Since April, Musk has dumped nearly $23 billion worth of shares in his electric vehicle and solar panel company, with much of the money presumed to have gone to fund Twitter's $44 billion acquisition in October. .
The sale comes as shares of the car and solar panel maker have tumbled, losing more than half their value since the businessman first revealed his intention to buy the social network in April.
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The fall in stocks has caused Musk to lose his status as the world's richest person, whose net worth now stands at $174 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Last week he was ousted by French fashion and cosmetics magnate Bernard Arnault.
The acquisition of Twitter and the direction that Musk has given to the platform have led to great changes that have had an impact, among other things, on "a massive drop in income" due to the loss of advertisers, according to himself.
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Another of them is the dismissal of half of its nearly 7,500 employees, an "action is necessary to ensure the success of the company in the future," as he argued.
The restoration of certain accounts blocked for violating the operating rules of the social network, such as that of former President Donald Trump or that of rapper Kanye West, has also raised controversy.
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Likewise, one of the first measures adopted by Musk to mitigate the economic impact of the Twitter purchase was not well received: announcing a monthly subscription to achieve the blue verification mark of an account.
This week it will be released again after failing the first attempt.
At the same time, investors have punished Tesla's shares of late, as the businessman has spent much of his time running Twitter, raising concerns that he is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of his car company.
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Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Musk is now a villain in the eyes of Tesla investors.
Although the company's foundation remains healthy, his behavior with Twitter is damaging the company's brand, he said.
"Twitter excess is a growing nightmare with no one but Musk to blame," he explained in an email.
