Elon Musk Puts California Homes on Market for $39.5M Following Twitter Rant
On Friday, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, triggered a sharp decline in the company’s stock price with a tweet claiming it was “too high,” shortly followed by announcing plans to divest his physical assets. Tesla’s shares plummeted over 10%, wiping out approximately $13 billion from its market value and nearly $3 billion from Musk’s personal stake.
Despite being valued at over $38 billion, Musk declared his intention to sell “almost all physical possessions,” including his homes. Just days later, he listed two Bel Air properties on Zillow, one of which overlooks the Bel Air Country Club. These listings appeared on Zillow within less than 24 hours.
On Monday, it emerged that the billionaire had posted two Bel Air properties on Zillow, with both listings appearing for only 18 hours. One of these homes, initially bought by Musk for $17 million in 2012, is now listed for $30 million.
The 16,251 square-foot mansion boasts six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a two-story library, swimming pool, and tennis court.
The second home, previously owned by the late Willy Wonka actor Gene Wilder, who passed away in 2016, is now listed for $9.5 million.
In November 2013, Musk acquired the three-quarter-acre Bel Air home for $6.75 million. Subsequently, Musk transformed the property into a private school.
The mansion additionally boasts a gym, pool, wine cellar, fruit orchard, and a five-car garage.
The home is among six properties purchased by Musk within walking distance of each other. Additionally, he acquired a seventh property near Tesla headquarters in Northern California. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk has invested over $100 million in these seven properties since 2012.
In 2015, Musk bought two homes: a modest ranch house for $4.3 million and a $20 million mansion. A year later, he acquired a large, unfinished home for $24.25 million. All three properties are located on the cul-de-sac of five homes.
Despite his actions, Musk assured his followers on Friday that the decision to sell his possessions was not financially motivated.
According to the Zillow listing, the home also includes a pool, as depicted in the provided images.
Musk owns this Bel Air home along with his other Bel Air properties, which are situated in the bottom left portion of the map.
Musk’s real estate portfolio comprises a cluster of six homes distributed across just two streets in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. The homes, four of which are circled above, are within walking distance of each other.
The Tesla billionaire also acquired this home in the Bel Air neighborhood, indicated by the smallest circle on the left side of the map.
Musk also disclosed that his girlfriend, the musician Grimes, is expected to give birth on Monday. The couple is depicted above in New York City in May 2018.
“I think people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry,” Musk stated as he digressed from the earnings call.
“It’s like somebody should be, if somebody wants to stay in the house, that’s great, they should be allowed to stay in the house, and they should not be compelled to leave.
To say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom!”
Tesla has reported strong earnings, but one of its significant challenges has been the government-ordered shutdown of its factory in Fremont, California. Despite this setback, Tesla stated on Wednesday that it anticipates production at its vehicle factories in Fremont, California, and Shanghai, China, to gradually increase throughout the second quarter.
The company highlighted that operations at its Shanghai plant were progressing better than expected, with production rates of its Model 3 sedan projected to reach 4,000 units per week, or 200,000 per year, by mid-2020. During the first three months of the year, Tesla delivered 88,400 vehicles, marking a 40% increase from the previous year. This growth was supported by production at its new factory in Shanghai.
Tesla also mentioned that gross margins at its Shanghai factory were nearing those of Model 3 production in the United States.