Billionaire Elon Musk has sold another 22 million shares in electric car maker Tesla, worth $3.58bn (£2.9bn).
Shares were traded on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, according to filings with the US financial regulator.
That brings the total amount of Tesla stock sold by Mr. Musk over the past year to nearly $40 billion.
Earlier this week, Mr Musk lost his position as the world’s richest man.
The reason for the latest share sale was not disclosed.
He is Tesla’s largest shareholder with a 13.4 percent stake, according to financial market data provider Refinitiv.
Last month, Mr. Musk revealed that he had sold 19.5 million shares of Tesla worth $3.95 billion, just days after completing a $44 billion takeover of social media platform Twitter.
Tesla has been one of the worst-performing stocks among major automakers and technology companies this year, as investors worry that Mr. Musk’s purchase of Twitter is distracting them.
Tesla shares on the technology-rich Nasdaq index closed below $500bn for the first time since 2020 in New York on Wednesday.
The company was worth more than $1tn at the end of last year but has fallen in value in recent months.
Mr. Musk completed the takeover of Twitter in October and has since focused a significant portion of his time on the business.
Mr. Musk sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to help fund his purchase, which helped push the stock lower.
The Twitter deal was completed only after months of legal wrangling, and some have cited takeover distractions as another factor behind Tesla’s share price decline.
Investors are also concerned that demand for the company’s electric cars could slow, as the economy weakens, high borrowing costs discourage buyers and other companies ramp up their electric vehicle offerings. .
Tesla has also faced recalls, as well as government investigations into crashes and its Autopilot feature.
This week Mr Musk lost his position as the world’s richest man after his shares in Tesla fell sharply in value this year.
According to JEE News, he was overtaken for the top spot by Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury goods group LVMH.
According to JEE News, Mr Musk is now worth $174bn, Mr Arnault’s fortune is around $191bn.
