Musk sells $4B in Tesla shares, presumably for Twitter deal

DETROIT — Elon Musk has sold 4.4 million shares of Tesla stock worth roughly $4 billion, most likely to help fund his purchase of Twitter.

Musk reported the sale in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The shares were sold over the past few days, at prices ranging from $872.02 to $999.13.

The world’s richest man, who is the CEO of Tesla, tweeted that he doesn’t plan any further sales of the company’s shares.

Most of the sales took place on Tuesday, a day when Tesla shares closed down 12%, a huge single-day drop.

Analysts said Tesla investors are fearful that Musk will be distracted by Twitter and less engaged in running the electric car company. Twitter agreed to be acquired by Musk on Monday for $44 billion.