The valuation of Musk's companies, including Space X and Tesla, is so high that the 50-year-old is classified as the world's richest man.

However, he has no regular salary, and has said that he lives in a spartan house of 35 square meters in Texas.

If Musk is to pay taxes, he needs to sell some of his assets, and in a new initiative, he enters the ongoing US debate on a possible "billionaire tax" for the very richest.

"There is a lot of talk now that unearned profits are a way to avoid taxes," he wrote on Twitter on Saturday, "so I suggest I sell 10 percent of my Tesla shares."

Increased value

The multi-billionaire urged supporters to vote on the proposal for 24 hours until Sunday evening, and by the time the vote was complete on Sunday evening, 57.9 percent had voted in favor.

"I will follow the results of this vote, no matter how it ends," Musk wrote on Saturday night.

Whether and when he will sell the shares is unclear.

At the beginning of the year, Elon Musk held 227,131,935 Tesla shares and call options, corresponding to 22.4 percent of the company, according to documents submitted to the SEC.

Should Musk sell a tenth, he will receive approximately 21 billion dollars (185 billion kronor).

But that amount is based on Tesla's closing price on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, and the electric car manufacturer's share is known to be very volatile.

In the last year alone, it has tripled in value, and critics have often claimed that the company is overvalued.

Can trigger race

Musk's move can, however, cause problems for both himself and Tesla.

The SEC has previously cracked down on the fact that he published market-influencing information via Twitter.

A settlement in 2019 entailed a fine of 40 million dollars, and that Musk agreed that all such proposals should be checked in advance.

In the Twitter sphere, many are now speculating that Musk's willingness to sell shares could trigger a price crash at the beginning of the week - which could then again arouse the SEC's anger.

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Then shares became a popular sport Photo: Arkivbilder / SVT