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by JumpCrisscross 2801 days ago
> Why is the Tesla stock illiquid? It's publicly traded.

Pardon me, imprecise phrasing. SpaceX stock is illiquid. Tesla stock is liquid, but if Tesla is having financial difficulties its stock will go down. If Elon can sell Tesla shares, Tesla can sell Tesla shares.

> I'm sure he could sell SpaceX stock on the secondary market quite easily

Not "quite easily". One, he's a super material insider. That makes the process more complicated for everyone involved. (It would be difficult to avoid giving everyone else the right to participate on the same terms.)

Two, he's a super material insider. The fact that he's selling will scare away many buyers.

Three, he's a super material insider. His selling SpaceX stock to prop up Tesla screams that nobody is willing to finance Tesla in the open market. It would immediately lead to a rout.
1 comments
bfwi 2801 days ago
I'm not convinced that selling some of his SpaceX stock on the secondary market is difficult, or that selling some of his Tesla stocks would cause a rout, especially when the immediate consequence would be paying back the debt, thereby saving the company.

But I hope some experts (e.g. stock analysts) would comment on this scenario, I think it's interesting.

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JumpCrisscross 2801 days ago
> I'm not convinced that selling some of his SpaceX stock on the secondary market is difficult

Selling SpaceX stock is not difficult per se. The CEO selling his SpaceX stock for the purpose of purchasing shares in a public company, of which he is also the CEO, is. (Source: this is what I do for a living.)

> selling some of his Tesla stocks would cause a rout

Elon Musk selling his Tesla stock to buy new Tesla shares, thereby giving Tesla cash, wouldn't be a problem. (Though it's a roundabout way for Tesla to issue new shares.) Elon Musk selling his SpaceX stock to buy new Tesla shares would be. It shows Tesla was unable to raise capital in the stock markets.

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stephengillie 2801 days ago
A CEO selling off a large share of stock in the company (s)he's running is a de facto red flag. Often it's headline/breaking news.
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