A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
Elon Musk sold nearly US$4 billion worth of Tesla stock since Twitter deal closed
Elon Musk sold US$3.95 billion worth of Tesla stock since completing his late last month.
Musk's Tesla stock sales, totaling 19.5 million shares, have been widely anticipated ever since the Tesla CEO . Musk had sold blocks of Tesla shares worth a total of US$15.4 billion earlier this year since his deal to buy Twitter was announced.
Twitter confirmed Musk bought the social media company October 27, but he waited until November 4 to start selling additional Tesla shares. He also sold blocks of Tesla stock on Monday and Tuesday this week, according to filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday night.
It's not clear if the money Musk raised went toward the Twitter purchase, or to support losses at Twitter since he took over.
Musk disclosed last week that Twitter has seen a "," as a growing number of advertisers pause spending on the platform in the wake of his takeover of the company. He blamed "activist groups" pressuring advertisers for the loss of ad dollars.
Twitter lost US$270 million in the quarter ending June 30, well before Musk took over and advertisers began to flee. It had only US$2.7 billion of cash on hand on its balance sheet as of June 30. He has announced plans to to have verified accounts, and also announced .
Musk's two weeks of ownership of Twitter have been a "debacle of epic proportions," said Dan Ives, tech analyst with Wedbush Securities. Although it's possible that the money from Musk's sale of Twitter sales the last two week may have gone toward paying off some short-term financing used to close the Twitter deal, it can't be ruled out that it was made necessary by big losses at Twitter.
"The more he gets into Twitter, the more it becomes a quicksand type of deal," said Ives.
Tesla's falling stock
This is not the best time to be selling Tesla shares, which have lost 46% of their value so far this year on caused by supply chain problems. Musk received an average price of US$202.52 for the Tesla shares he sold since the Twitter deal closed, which is down 10% just since he closed on his deal to buy Twitter.
Shares of Tesla fell 1.5% in premarket trading Wednesday.
The company is facing growing competition in the electric vehicle market from established automakers such as , and . And some investors have expressed concerns that Musk will be too distracted by his purchase of Twitter to to addressing Tesla's problems.
"Tesla investors are exacerbated by this never ending Twitter albatross," said Ives. "Musk needs to look in the mirror and end this constant merry-go-round of Twitter overhang on the Tesla story with his focus back on the golden child Tesla which needs his time more than ever."
Musk's stock sales
These three most recent blocks of Tesla stock sales represent only 4% of the shares that Musk owns outright through a trust, and less than 3% of his holdings if options that he has to buy additional shares are included.
Musk agreed to buy Twitter in April, shortly after filings showed he had , or about a 9% stake, for US$2.6 billion. The purchases made him the company's largest shareholder.
Soon after the deal was announced, he disclosed he had shares, a move seen as a first step to raise the cash he would need to complete the purchase of Twitter.
Even after Musk announced a change of heart and fought a brought by Twitter to force him to buy the company, he continued to sell Tesla shares. Filings in August showed he had sold Tesla shares.
Musk's filings did not disclose the reason for those earlier stock sales. But after someone on Twitter asked him if he was done selling Tesla shares, he responded "Yes" and then pointed to the possibility of being forced to buy Twitter as the reason for those sales.
Since Musk's earlier Tesla sales, shares of Tesla have , meaning he needed to sell three times as many shares in order to raise as much cash. But his holdings of Tesla shares also tripled due to the split.
Before his interest in Twitter, Musk rarely sold shares of Tesla stock, primarily selling shares necessary to when exercising stock options.
He sold a total of 15.7 million pre-split shares at the end of 2021, netting a total of US$16.4 billion, because he had to exercise stock options or risk having them expire. He likely ended up with a of more than $10 billion. But even after paying that tax bill and the cost to exercise those options, he likely had roughly US. He may have used some of that cash to buy his initial Twitter stake.
These latest sales represent the lowest price at which Musk has sold Tesla shares recently, off about 30% from his sales in April and August when adjusted for the Tesla stock split since then, and down 42% from what he received when he sold shares in late 2021.
-- CNN Business' Clare Duffy and Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trustees with an Ontario school board are responding to criticism over a $45,000 trip to Italy, where they purchased more than $100,000 worth of religious statues.
A photographer snorkeled for hours to take this picture
Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Tobacco giants would pay out $32.5 billion to provinces, smokers in proposed deal
Three tobacco giants are proposing to pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and their loved ones as part of a corporate restructuring process triggered by a long-running legal battle.
More Trudeau cabinet ministers not running for re-election, sources say shuffle expected soon
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election. Senior government sources tell 麻豆影视 at least one other, Marie-Claude Bibeau, doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
A handwritten book was seized from B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton's prison cell following his death earlier this year, raising hopes of uncovering new evidence in a series of unprosecuted murders.
Former members of One Direction say they're 'completely devastated' by Liam Payne's death
The former members of English boy band One Direction reacted publicly to the sudden death of their bandmate, Liam Payne, for the first time on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that they're 'completely devastated.'
Israel says it has killed top Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar in Gaza
Israeli forces in Gaza killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel's most wanted man.
Indian government employee charged in foiled murder-for-hire plot in New York City
The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
Local Spotlight
A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥
John Cantin vividly remembers opening day for his Victoria diner. Stress levels were high, tables were full, and one of the most popular menu items couldn鈥檛 be freed from the unyielding grip of the waffle maker.
A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.
A B.C. judge has issued a decision in a years-long dispute between neighbours that began with a noise complaint over barking dogs, crowing roosters and quacking ducks 鈥 awarding $15,000 in damages to the plaintiffs in the case.
An Ottawa man was arrested after taking a shower in a stranger's house, Ottawa police say.
S岣祑x瘫w煤7mesh 脷xwumixw (Squamish Nation) Chef Paul Natrall, the man behind Indigenous food truck Mr. Bannock, is bringing cooking classes on First Nations fare to schools and offices throughout Metro Vancouver.
The Celtic Colours Festival is taking place at venues around Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia from Oct. 11 to 19.
Sometimes love is written in the stars, but for one couple, it鈥檚 written in the aurora borealis.
Canadian hip hop artist Dillan King says running 100 marathons in 100 days was not only the hardest thing he has ever done, but the 'proudest accomplishment' of his entire life.