Elon Musk says he will pay more than $11bn in tax this year

Musk, who was earlier this year accused of paying zero federal taxes in 2018 despite sitting on an estimated $243bn (£185bn), said he would pay the unusually high tax bill this year after the sale of millions of Tesla shares.

Musk has sold about $14bn worth of Tesla shares since early November, when he asked his Twitter followers whether he should sell 10% of his holdings. Almost 60% of his 67 million followers voted that he should sell the shares. Taxes on the sales are estimated to come in at between $11bn and $12bn.

The controversial entrepreneur would probably have had to begin selling down his 23% stake in Tesla regardless of the outcome of the vote, as he faced a massive tax bill on share options that were awarded to him in 2012 and set to expire in August 2022. In order to exercise the options, he is required to pay tax on the gain. Tesla shares have risen by more than 20,000% in the past 10 years.