<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Multi-billionaire Elon Musk has sold another 22 million shares, worth $3.58bn (£2.9bn), in the electric car maker Tesla.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The shares were sold on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, according to a filing with a US financial regulator.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It brings the total of Tesla stocks sold by Mr Musk over the past year to almost $40bn.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Earlier this week Mr Musk lost his position as the world's richest person.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The reason for the latest share sales has not been disclosed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He remains Tesla's biggest shareholder with a 13.4% stake, according to financial market data provider Refinitiv.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last month Mr Musk revealed that he had sold 19.5 million shares of Tesla worth $3.95bn, just days after completing a $44bn takeover of social media platform Twitter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tesla is one of the worst performing stocks among major car makers and technology companies this year, as investors worry that Mr Musk's buyout of Twitter is diverting his attention.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday the value of Tesla shares listed on the technology-heavy Nasdaq index in New York closed below $500bn for the first time since 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the end of last year the company was worth more than $1tn but its value has slumped in recent months.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musk completed the takeover of Twitter in October and since then has focused a significant amount of his time on the business.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musk sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to help fund his purchase, which helped to push the shares down.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Twitter deal was only completed after months of legal wrangling, and some have cited the distraction of the takeover as another factor behind Tesla's share price fall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Investors have also been concerned that demand for the company's electric cars may slow, as the economy weakens, higher borrowing costs discourage buyers and other companies boost their electric vehicle offerings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tesla has also been hit by recalls, as well as government probes of crashes and its autopilot feature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This week Mr Musk lost his position as the world's richest person after a sharp drop in the value of his shares in Tesla this year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to both Forbes and Bloomberg, he was overtaken at the top spot by Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury goods group LVMH.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musk is now worth $174bn, Mr Arnault's fortune stands at almost $191bn, according to Forbes. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>