On November 8th, in the next few months, Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Musk will face more than 15 billion US dollars (about 96 billion yuan) in stock options tax bills.
Regardless of the result of the vote on Twitter, he may sell Tesla stock this year.
Musk received a stock award of 22.8 million shares in 2012, with an exercise price of US$6.24 per share, based on Tesla’s closing price of US$1222.09 on Friday. Musk’s income through these options is only slightly less than 28 billion US dollars.
Through calculation, the total tax rate of federal tax plus California state tax will reach 54.1%. Musk will pay $15 billion in taxes for these options. Because the window for CEO-level executives to sell stocks is limited. Musk is likely to sell shares at least two quarters apart.