Elon Musk says he is considering quitting jobs to become full-time ‘influencer’

Tesla founder Elon Musk. File picture: Reuters.

Tesla founder Elon Musk. File picture: Reuters.

Published Dec 13, 2021

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San Francisco - Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that he is considering resigning, hours after selling another chunk of shares in his company.

"Thinking of quitting my jobs & becoming an influencer full-time wdyt," SA-born Musk wrote to his 65 million Twitter followers in an apparently playful tweet that drew around 250 000 "likes".

Besides running Tesla, Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, which he founded in 2002. He is also known for making eye-popping statements on social media, and his latest statement is more than likely in jest.

On Thursday evening the world's richest person sold just over 934 000 shares in Tesla, according to documents filed with US stock regulators. They were worth about $963 million (R15.4bn). He also exercised his right to buy stock options at $6.24 per share.

In a poll last month Musk asked on Twitter if people thought he should sell 10 percent of his stake in Tesla. Most people who responded said he should.

At least some of that money was probably for the purpose of paying taxes, some observers said.

Since conducting that survey Musk has sold more than 11 million shares in Tesla. He will hit 10 percent of his stake if he sells 6 million more.

In electronic trading prior to the opening bell Friday, Tesla shares were down 0.8 percent at $996.

Agence France-Presse

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