After promise, Elon Musk sells USD 1.1B in Tesla shares to pay taxes
Detroit(AP): After making a promise on Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold about 9,00,000 shares of the electric car maker's stock, netting over USD 1.1 billion that will go toward paying tax obligations for stock options.
The sales, disclosed in two regulatory filings late Wednesday, will cover tax obligations for stock options granted to Musk in September. He exercised options to buy just over 2.1 million shares for USD 6.24 each. The company's stock closed Wednesday at USD 1,067.95 per share.
The transactions were "automatically effected" as part of a trading plan adopted on September 14 to sell options that expire next year, according to forms filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That was nearly two months before he floated the idea of the sale on Twitter.
After the transactions, Musk still owns about 170 million Tesla shares.
Musk was Tesla's largest shareholder as of June, owning about 17 per cent of the company, according to data provider FactSet. He's the wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, with a net worth of around USD 282 billion, most of it in Tesla stock.
Ives calculated that Musk has about USD 10 billion in taxes coming due on stock options that vest next summer.
The sometimes abrasive and unpredictable Musk said he proposed selling the stock as some Democrats have been pushing for billionaires to pay taxes when the price of the stocks they hold goes up, even if they don't sell any shares. However, the wording on unrealised gains, also called a "billionaires tax," was removed from President Joe Biden's budget, which is still being negotiated.
"Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock," he tweeted Saturday afternoon. "Do you support this?"
Musk said he would abide by the results of the poll, which ended with 58 per cent of more than 3.5 million votes calling for him to sell the stock.
Tesla does not pay Musk a cash salary. "I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock," Musk tweeted.
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Manipur ethnic violence claimed 258 lives since May last year: Security Advisor
Imphal, Nov 22: The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed 258 lives since May last year, the state government's Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh said on Friday.
He said that the state would get around 90 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), over and above the 198 companies that are already in Manipur.
"The total number of deaths is 258 including militants," Singh while addressing a press conference after holding a security review meeting here.
The security advisor said that 32 people were arrested in connection with vandalism and torching of properties of ministers and MLAs while around 3,000 looted weapons have been recovered.
"We are getting approximately 90 companies of CAPF, over and above the 198 companies which were earlier sent to the state. A sizeable number of them have already reached Imphal. We are distributing forces to protect the lives and properties of the citizens and vulnerable points," Singh said.
The authorities would set up coordination cells and joint control rooms in each district, he said after the meeting which was attended by representatives of the Army, BSF, CRPF, Assam Rifles, SSB, ITBP and the Manipur Police.
"A number of SOPs (standard operating procedure) have been prepared for deployment of forces for coordination, for functioning, for fringe area security, for national highways security, and for any other important points which have to be taken care of," Singh said.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh would be briefed about the outcome of the meeting as is done in all similar cases, he said.
He said that nine bodies, including those of the victims including those of the six abducted and killed in Jiribam, were buried peacefully under tight security.
The bodies include three women and three children, who were allegedly abducted from a relief camp on November 11 by Kuki-Zo militants from Jiribam's Borobekra area when a group of Kuki youths were engaged in an encounter with CRPF in which 10 of them were killed.
"The CRPF post was attacked during which 10 militants were neutralised. Soon after that, it came to light that three women and three children were abducted," Singh said.
It will be found out whether the abduction happened in presence of the security forces, he said.
No information is available if the militants involved in the abduction belonged to Suspension of Operations (SoO) groups but it will be checked, Singh said adding that NIA is looking into the cases.
The SoO pact was signed by the Centre, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of Kuki militant outfits – Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People’s Front (UPF). The pact was signed in 2008 and extended periodically thereafter.
The violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups, besides inflicting heavy casualties, rendered thousands of people homeless since May last year.
It started after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
