Elon Musk has been busy selling Tesla shares as he prepares to pay for his $44 billion Twitter bid, but the billionaire said late Thursday that he has no plans to sell anymore

Elon Musk. Image Credit

Fortune: Musk revealed in five separate Form 4 filings to the SEC published on Thursday that he had already unloaded a total of 4.41 million shares worth about $4 billion on Tuesday and Wednesday.

He later tweeted, "No further Tesla sales planned after today."

While Musk's statement should assuage investor concerns about a future stock overhang, it also implies that more Form 4s may be forthcoming. They must be filed within two business days of the transaction date, according to the law.

No further TSLA sales planned after today

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2022

Some Tesla supporters had hoped Musk would find other ways to fund the deal, which was viewed as an expensive and distracting vanity project that only the world's richest person could afford.

Others were less surprised, pointing to the suspicious increase in daily trading volumes and the stock's 12.7 percent drop this week. On Tuesday, 45.4 million shares were traded, followed by 41.2 million on Thursday, the sixth and seventh times this year that the 40-million mark was broken. Volumes are typically half that amount. 

Tesla's CEO still owns 168.2 million shares in his company, but a large portion of that has already been pledged as collateral for loans and cannot be easily sold.

There have only been 5 days with over 40 million shares of $TSLA trades this year.

-3 late January selling panic

-1 Feb 24 start of war

-and today.

Maybe @elonmusk IS liquidating some. Twice the average volume over the last month.

— Meet Kevin (@realMeetKevin) April 26, 2022

Loans and security

Musk had already borrowed 88.3 million shares in a tax-efficient scheme to fund his lifestyle prior to the Twitter bid, according to the company's proxy statement from last year.

His stock has recently served as collateral for $25.5 billion in debt he raised for the purchase of Twitter, and there's reason to believe he won't be able to pledge much more.

This is because Tesla's board of directors restricts the number of money directors and executive officers can borrow against their stock holdings in order to prevent forced stock liquidation, which could encourage short sellers.

As a result, speculators estimate that up to 150 million of Musk's shares, excluding vested stock options, may now be effectively frozen, which could explain why Musk said he's ended selling.

3/ Selling far less than $21B in $TSLA shares implies Elon is likely bringing one or more equity partners into the deal or will sell other assets to satisfy the $21B commitment. It also suggests Elon intends to fast track the $TWTR purchase rather than wait months to complete it.

— Gary Black (@garyblack00) April 29, 2022

Rather than citing any economic rationale as motivation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has marketed his $44 billion takeovers as a bid to restore freedom of speech. Following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, Twitter famously banned him for inciting violence, and Republican politicians have pressed Musk to reinstate Trump after the takeover.

Musk has become increasingly critical of the "woke mind virus," claiming that the Democrats have been "hijacked by extremists" on Thursday. Musk's growing political alienation from Democrats stems from repeated attacks on the billionaire by prominent Democrats, who have attempted to portray Musk as a freeloader who avoids paying income taxes. 

However, because he has requested that Tesla's board not pay him a salary, the serial entrepreneur is exempt from paying income tax. Instead, Musk is paid in stock, with the majority of his fortune invested in high-risk assets such as Tesla.