On Sunday, Elon Musk took to Twitter to clarify how much he paid in taxes.
It was in response to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who questioned Time magazine’s choice for Person of the Year.
“Let’s change the rigged tax code so The Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else,” she tweeted.
To this, Musk replied, “and if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year.”
And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2021
Finally, on Sunday, he revealed the big amount on Twitter— “For those wondering, I will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year,” Musk tweeted.
For those wondering, I will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2021
According to Bloomberg, the billionaire may face a tax bill of more than $10 billion for 2021 if he exercises his options, which are due to expire next year. Musk exercised 15 million options and sold millions of shares to cover taxes related to those transactions.
- Last month, he even asked his followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla. Since his tweet, the company's market value has slid back to $937, below the $1 trillion mark it managed to hit.
Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021
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According to Fox News, if Musk’s tweet is factually correct, then his bill is larger than the gross domestic products (or GDPs) of Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia and Mozambique.