Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc TSLA are down 71.7% year-to-date, making the stock one of 2022's worst performers in the entire S&P 500. Controversial Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been among the sellers, dumping roughly $40 billion worth of Tesla stock in the past year. Musk recently said he will not be selling any additional Tesla shares for a while, but it's certainly not the first time Musk has said he's done selling.
What Happened? On Dec. 22, 2022 Musk said in a Twitter Spaces chat that he will not be unloading any more Tesla stock for the foreseeable future.
"I won't sell stock until, I don't know, probably two years from now. Definitely not next year under any circumstances and probably not the year thereafter," Musk said.
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Musk's Past Pledges: Musk has repeatedly made similar statements over the past year.
On Dec. 22, 2021, Musk tweeted that he was "almost done" selling Tesla stock after selling nearly 1 million shares worth about $1 billion. Musk ultimately sold about $22 billion of Tesla stock in 2021.
He resumed his selling in April 2022, dumping another $8.4 billion in Tesla stock. On April 28, 2022, Musk tweeted "no further TSLA sales planned after today."
Musk subsequently sold $6.9 billion in Tesla stock in August 2022. When asked by a Twitter follower if he was finished selling stock, Musk replied "yes" on Aug. 9, 2022, adding that it's "important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock" associated with his $44 billion buyout of Twitter.
Musk went on to sell another $3.9 billion worth of Tesla stock in November 2022 and an additional $3.6 billion worth of Tesla stock in December 2022 before making his latest pledge to stop selling on Dec. 22.
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Benzinga's Take: Tesla's stock didn't react much to Musk's latest pledge to stop selling his Tesla shares, and the market has seemingly learned to take everything Musk says with a grain of salt at this point. Musk's tendency to bend the truth even cost him and Tesla $40 million in 2018 when Musk paid a fraud settlement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the SEC determined Musk's declaration he had "funding secured" for a deal to take Tesla private was not factual.
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