Elon Musk Sells $6.9bn Of Tesla Shares As Twitter Lawsuit Looms

Tesla boss Elon Musk has sold another 7.92 million shares in the electric car maker, worth around $6.88bn (£5.7bn).

The sales took place after the firm's annual shareholder meeting last week, regulatory filings show.

Mr Musk says he needs the money in case he is forced to buy Twitter for $44bn.

The multi-billionaire is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the social media platform after saying last month he would pull out of a deal to buy it.

The latest transactions were carried out on 5, 8 and 9 August, according to six filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

After news of the share sale was made public Mr Musk responded to a tweet asking whether he had finished selling Tesla shares with "yes", adding that he needed the money in case he was forced to buy Twitter and was unable to secure some of the funding for the deal.

"It is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock," he said.

In July, Mr Musk said he planned to walk away from his bid to buy Twitter, prompting the company to sue him.

The world's richest person has accused the company of withholding information about fake accounts.

Last month, a US judge ruled that Twitter's lawsuit against Mr Musk should go to trial in October.

- BBC