Tesla CEO Elon Musk , a well - knownTwitter addict , recollect it would be a grand idea to let the mass on the program decide whether he should pay tax or not , so hemade a poll . Musk involve the Twitterverse whether he should sell 10 % of his Tesla fund , saying he was disposed to honor the resultant of the canvass , “ whichever manner it goes . ” Twitter voted “ yes . ”
The tech magnate launched the poll on Saturday in light of the late legislative proposal to tax unrealized gains — or net profit existingon paper onlythat do n’t become real until the investment is sell — , which some have said allow billionaires to avoid paying taxis . For setting , Musk explained that he only receive payment from his companies in stock and does n’t take a John Cash salary or bonus . Therefore , he said , “ the only way for me to pay up taxes personally is to sell descent . ”
Musk owns more than 17 % of Tesla stock , which is prize at more than $ 200 billion , according to theWall Street Journal . trade 10 % of that at current Price would amount to about $ 21 billion .
Photo: Britta Pedersen-Pool (Getty Images)
“ Much is made of late of unrealised gain being a way of tax turning away , so I propose selling 10 % of my Tesla stock , ” Musk wrotein the tweetwith his pate , summate : “ I will abide by the results of this poll parrot , whichever means it run . ”
Much is made recently of unrealized gains being a mean of taxation dodging , so I pop the question betray 10 % of my Tesla origin .
Do you support this ?
— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)November 6 , 2021
A sum of 3.5 million people voted in Musk ’s poll , of which 57.9 % said he should sell and 42.1 % said he should n’t .
Since the poll ended , however , the Twitterverse has n’t discover much more from Musk on the topic . In areplyto a tweet asking if the poll went the way he wanted it to , Musk said he was fain to take on either outcome .
Last month , Musk criticize a proposal by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden , Democrat of Oregon , to tax unrealized gains on publically trade assets , saying(on Twitter)that the proposal would eventually attain less wealthy taxpayer because “ [ e]ventually , they run out of other people ’s money and then they issue forth for you . ”
For what it ’s worth , Wyden ’s proposalwas evisceratedalmost as soon as it was introduced , but it trigger an authoritative disputation , one Musk decided to wade into .
Although Musk placard this as a way for the world to resolve what he does with his money , CNBC point outthat it was potential the Tesla exec would have trade stock even if Twitter did n’t rip a Palpatine and assure him todo it .
This is because Musk is face a billion - clam taxation flier on the 22.8 million shares he was awarded as blood line alternative in 2012 . for work out the choice , Musk has to pay income revenue enhancement on what he ’s gained on those shares at their current price , which comes out to a gain of approximately $ 28 billion . CNBC reports that due to a combined state and Union tax charge per unit of 54.1 % , the Tesla CEO abide to pay $ 15 billion if he exercises the pick .
Musk announced in September that he would be sell some of his options in the fourth quarter of this year because they were set to expire . The Tesla CEO does n’t usually sell gillyflower he already has , but he hasdone soin the past tense to compensate the taxis on his stock options .
Musk ’s poll and its outcome make much to babble out about on Twitter . The poll even earn a reply from Wyden .
“ Whether or not the world ’s moneyed man pays any revenue enhancement at all should n’t count on the results of a Twitter poll . It ’s meter for the Billionaires Income Tax , ” the senatortweeted .
To put this all in perspective , areportthis past summer found that Musk paid $ 0 in income revenue enhancement in 2018 . So yeah , any amount of income tax he pays is a small step forward for humanity .
Update 2025-03-04 , 10:39 p.m. ET : This Emily Price Post has been to clear up that Musk stands to pay $ 15 billion if he exercises his fund options .
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