Bernie Sanders has long been known for posting online about taxing the super-rich, but a tweet over the weekend irked one of those wealth holders in particular. "We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period," the Vermont senator posted on Saturday. The next morning, Tesla CEO Elon Musk trolled Sanders: "I keep forgetting that you’re still alive." An hour later, Musk piled on even more, tweeting, "Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word."
CNN Business notes that Musk actually did sell $6.9 billion in Tesla stock last week, though that's only about 4% of the total amount he holds directly. His net worth overall, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is $285 billion. Sanders hasn't responded directly to Musk yet, but per a poll Musk himself put up last week on Twitter, nearly 60% of respondents agreed he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock to pony up more in taxes.
Although Musk told his followers that the vote would determine his next moves, NBC News notes that it looks like he was set to sell some of those shares anyway. Sanders' push for wealth redistribution has been a longtime staple of his platform, as it has been for other progressives like Elizabeth Warren. Democrats have recently proposed a wealth tax of their own, which would have 700 of the nation's richest fork over taxes on stocks that gain value in their portfolio, even if they don't sell them. (More Elon Musk stories.)
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