Elon Musk clarifies: ‘I don’t have personal loans at this time against Tesla stock’; adds ‘It is worrying…’
Elon Musk recently responded to an online conversation about Tesla’s major shareholders, stating that he does not have any loans against his Tesla shares. In the post, he also highlighted concerns about losing control of the company in the future. It all started when an online Tesla club named Tesla Owners Silicon Valley shared an X post depicting shareholder stakes of the EV maker. It showed Elon Musk holding 21.2% shares of the company.To this, an X user replied “That is a bit misleading, until we know for the DE Supreme Court”. She further added: “As of now, Elon holds @ 12.8% of Tesla’s outstanding shares, totaling over 410 million shares. (He has pledged more than half of these shares as collateral for personal loans up to $3.5 billion.) Additionally, Elon has options to purchase around 304 million shares from the 2018 compensation package, which, if exercised, could increase his stake to approximately 20.5%, though these options are currently under legal dispute and don’t give him any voting rights.”
Elon Musk says worried about weakening control over Tesla
Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied to the discussion, saying “Just fyi I don’t have personal loans at this time against Tesla stock. Also, the taxes on the options are ~45%, so net gain in voting control is more like 4%.” The tech billionaire further expressed concern about the future, especially if his control over Tesla weakens. He wrote “It is worrying in that I don’t want to build millions of robots and then potentially be ousted by activists and unable to ensure that public safety remains of paramount importance.”Musk has often spoken about the future of Tesla’s AI and robotics projects, including its humanoid robot, Optimus. His latest comment suggests he’s concerned that if activist investors gain influence, it could affect how Tesla handles safety in these projects.
