"I was ready to accept the result whatever it is," said the entrepreneur who regularly uses the social network to make unexpected announcements or surprising comments.

However, he did not specify when he intended to sell his shares, or how.

The whimsical boss of the electric vehicle maker seemed to have his sights set on a recent suggestion from Democratic parliamentarians, proposing to tax the super-rich more heavily by targeting their stocks, usually taxed only when sold.

It was a priori left out for the moment.

Elon Musk had already criticized this proposal in late October, writing in a tweet: "They end up depleting everyone else's money and come and get yours."

On Saturday, he broached the subject again, writing: "There has been a lot of talk lately about unrealized gains as a tool for tax evasion, so I am proposing to sell 10% of my Tesla shares."

His tweet referred to a mini-poll asking Internet users to vote "yes" or "no".

According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk owned about 17% of Tesla's outstanding shares as of June 30, which is currently worth $ 208.37 billion.

By selling 10% of its shares, it could theoretically recover a little less than $ 21 billion.

The entrepreneur was also awarded a large package of stock options and convertible shares as compensation.

His fortune has swelled with the recent surge in the title, from around $ 130 in early 2020 to $ 1,222.09 on Friday night.

With his stakes in his other companies, especially rocket builder SpaceX, Elon Musk is theoretically the richest man in the world with a fortune estimated by Bloomberg at $ 338 billion.

"Note that I do not take a salary in cash or a bonus anywhere," he said on Twitter on Saturday.

"I only have shares, so the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell shares," he added.

© 2021 AFP