Elon Musk says he will pay $11bn in taxes this year
Celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk has said he will pay $11bn in taxes this year, an amount which could constitute the biggest contribution in history.
Musk took to Twitter to announce the news, writing: “for those wondering, I will pay over $11bn in taxes this year.”
The mammoth levy comes after Musk exercised almost 15m options and sold millions of shares to cover the taxes related to those transactions. He did so after holding a Twitter poll last month and asked whether he should sell a 10 per cent stake in Tesla, which has seen shares jump by 2,000 per cent over the last five years.
Tesla shares have declined by more than a fifth per cent since Musk put the decision to his 62.5m Twitter followers who voted in favour of the sell off. The company’s market cap has slipped from above $1 trillion to $936.5bn.
Musk pulled the publicity stunt to push back against accusations that he does not pay his fair share of taxes.
Earlier this month Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly accused Musk of freeloading off the American public by changing the tax system. The US’ ruling Democrats party has been mulling a “billionaires’ tax” which will affect some 700 ultra-rich individuals who would be required to pay taxes on long-term capital gains on tradable assets, whether or not they have been sold.
Responding to Senator Warren Trump retorted: “if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year.”
Musk has previously stated that he does not draw a salary from Tesla or SpaceX with his only income coming from selling shares which are taxed at a rate of 53 per cent.