Three-for-one stock split for Tesla

Musk’s company also announced in its annual proxy statement that board member Larry Ellison has no plans to stand for re-election.

Splitting shares or splitting hairs

“We believe the stock split would help reset the market price of our common stock so that our employees will have more flexibility in managing their equity.” So sayeth Tesla in its latest company filing, in which it outlines plans surrounding a three-for-one stock split.

For the uninitiated: for every share held by an investor, there will now be three, so outstanding shares in the market will triple. But the price per share will be reduced, by dividing the old share price by three. Kapeesh?   

What’s the angle?

The proposed split in the form of a dividend could be seen to combat a sharp selloff in Tesla stock, which is down nearly 35% this year. And while shares did rise by more than 1% after-hours on Friday last week, there is still plenty of work to be done – particularly in the face of Musk’s volatile social media presence.

Tesla also confirmed that board member, Larry Ellison, is set to throw in the towel. And as the eleventh richest person in the world, worth around $87 billion, it seems Larry is irreplaceable; the board will instead reduce its number of seats to seven. Whether it’s itchy feet or Musk’s endless tweeting, Tesla’s top dogs will be hoping that no one else has plans to jump ship.