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Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinTopline Twitter followers of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, voted in a poll he posted Saturday for the Tesla founder and CEO to sell 10% of his stock in the company, after he said he will “abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes,” and that selling stock would allow him to pay taxes. 

SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer Award 2020 on … [+] December 01, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)

Getty Images Key Facts Over 57% of respondents said they support Musk selling his stock, and over 42% said they do not. 

About 3,500,000 of Musk’s 62.7 million followers voted in the poll, or about 5% of his followers. 

Musk, who is known for his wild antics on the social media platform, noted on Twitter on Saturday that he does not take a salary from Tesla, and “the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock.” 

Musk has not reacted to the results of the poll.

Big Number 227 million. That’s how many Tesla shares Musk holds, according to SEC filings, and 10% of that is worth about $27.8 billion, as of Friday. 

Key Background Last month, Musk became the richest person in history, and the first person to ever be worth more than $300 billion. His net worth is currently $318.4 billion. Tesla’s stock has been rapidly rising since rental car service Hertz announced it was purchasing 100,000 vehicles from the tech company. The deal made Tesla one of the few companies worth more than $1 trillion. Musk’s Twitter poll comes as the Biden administration released an analysis that showed the ultra-rich pay taxes at a rate that is significantly less than most Americans do. Under a failed tax proposal that would have required billionaires to pay more taxes on stock earnings, Musk would have owed the government nearly $30 billion, according to a Forbes analysis. 

Further Reading Elon Musk Is The First Person Worth More Than $300 Billion (Forbes) 

Hertz Claims Tesla Deliveries Have Started After Elon Musk Says A Contract Hasn’t Been Signed (Forbes)

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