Most recent coverage of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has centered around his Twitter polls on whether or not he should sell portions of his Tesla stock holdings.
Almost removing time for speculation, Musk did exactly that, selling off 10% of his shares. This chunk of equity amounted to roughly 930,000 shares, worth a total of roughly $1.1 billion. By the end of the week, he had parted ways with as much as $6.9 billion in Tesla stock.
Yesterday, he then turned his attention to another aspect of Twitter.
How? In a new series of tweets, the Tesla CEO sparked a new debate. This time, the target is someone who has taken shots at Wall Street and big business for years: Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Shots Fired
The independent senator from Vermont has long rallied against big business, insisting that billionaires should be more heavily taxed. As part of efforts to pass social spending packages, Democrats have also zeroed in on taxing billionaires as a source of funding. Sanders has been leading this charge, along with fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
A few days ago, Sanders tweeted that America’s wealthiest needed to pay their “fair share” of taxes. Musk felt compelled to chime in, mocking Sanders not for his policy stances, but for his age. He quickly responded again, asking Sanders if he wanted him to sell more shares.
Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2021
As of now, Sanders has made no move to respond to his question.
This isn’t the first time Musk has jokingly prodded at prominent political figures. In September, he took a jab at President Joe Biden after he did not praise the success of SpaceX’s first all-civilian mission.
What It Means for Tesla Stock
It’s not hard to see why Musk would be tempted to troll Sanders in this fashion. The senator made headlines in 2019 when he famously tweeted that billionaires should not be allowed to exist while proposing a tax that would greatly reduce their net worth.
Billionaires should not exist. https://t.co/hgR6CeFvLa
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 24, 2019
The policy was met with considerable opposition, with one of its most prominent critics being hedge fund titan Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors. The following year, Cooperman claimed that Sanders was a more significant threat to America’s stock market than the quick-spreading novel coronavirus.
The good news for investors who hold Tesla stock is that Musk’s exchange with Sanders likely won’t have any meaningful, long-term effect on share prices. While the stock has dropped today, it’s likely other factors are play, including its short interest.
Tesla’s meme stock status is still generating plenty of buzz. InvestorPlace contributor Alex Sirois recently added it to a November buy list. It’s always been a stock to watch, and the Musk-Sanders exchange isn’t likely to change anything.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
