Tesla's chief executive took to Twitter to poll his followers about whether he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla stock. The poll said yes.
"Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?" Musk tweeted on Saturday.
According to the poll results, 57.9 percent were in favor of this move, with 42.1 percent against it. Ten percent of Tesla stock would be worth some $21 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Musk added that he would abide by the results of the poll, whichever way it went. However, he was chastised over the poll and related tweets, which some said would cause Tesla stock to tank on Monday.
"You do realize that Tesla stock will now tank on Monday because of this, thus ending the awesome run the stock has made the last month. Posts like this is taking money out of the pockets of the people who have believed in you and your company the most," one follower wrote.
Other small-time investors in Tesla, however, defended the move, with one of them saying that the Tesla stock is currently overextended and that this was the best time for the company to pay down its debt.
A total of more than 3.5 million Twitter users voted in the poll that led to a squabble between the chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, Peter Schiff, and a Republican Congressman.
"From a diversification and valuation perspective the sale makes a lot of sense. The fact that you'll have to pay taxes on the proceeds however is not a net benefit to society. The public would be better served by you wisely investing that money rather than government wasting it," Schiff wrote on Musk's timeline.
"Tesla got a critical, early $465M loan from the Federal government, Peter," Ohio Rep. Casey Weinstein wrote back.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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