Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, worth $243 billion, revealed in a recent tweet that he will be paying more than $11 billion in taxes in 2021. This could be a record amount paid to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
Until all his options expire in 2021, the billionaire may owe more than $10 billion in taxes. Musk exercised almost 15 million options and sold millions of shares to cover the taxes related to these transactions, resulting in an unusually high tax levy.
Earlier this month, he polled followers on Twitter about whether he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla. the electric carmaker, whose shares have soared more than 2,300% over the past five years. Additionally, he predicted that the tax rate would rise next year.
This year, Musk is paying more taxes than any other American. It was in response to a tweet from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who called Musk out on his taxes using his Time Magazine “Person of the Year” accolade.
Musk’s fortune is heavily reliant on Tesla, which topped $937 billion on Friday, and SpaceX, which was valued at 100 billion after a funding round some months ago.
After promising last year that he would sell nearly all of his personal property, including six mansions, he owns a 400-square foot rental unit as his primary residence.
As of today, he has a net worth equal to 134 million troy ounces of gold or 3.39 billion barrels of oil.