Carmaker boss Musk revs up tax row with Senate foe

A clash of economic principles played out on Sunday with Tesla chief Elon Musk snarkily responding to a call by US Senator Bernie Sanders for the rich to pay their "fair share" of taxes.

"We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period," the 80-year-old senator from Vermont said in a post on Twitter to his 15.3 million followers on Saturday.

Musk, 50, who in addition to being chief executive of the electric car maker is the owner of SpaceX, responded in a post to his 67.3 million followers on the platform: "I keep forgetting that you're still alive."

Musk's wealth is estimated at more than $270 billion.

The tycoon, who had already sold a combined $6.9 billion worth of shares in his car company as of Friday, followed up with: "Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word."

While Sanders didn't reply to Musk, Melissa Byrne, a former Sanders aide, tweeted: "Folks, quit buying@Tesla. Don't reward abusive men."

Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate. He made determined runs for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, losing to Hillary Clinton and then Joe Biden.

Spending package

As chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders is pushing for Congress to approve Biden's Build Back Better package of spending on health and social care and climate mitigation.

Senate Democrats propose to tax billionaires' stocks and other tradable assets to help finance Biden's social spending agenda and close a loophole that has allowed them to defer capital gains taxes indefinitely.

Musk tweeted earlier this month that he would sell 10 percent of his shares if users of the social media platform endorsed the move. About 58 percent of his followers voted in favor of the stock sale.

"Note, I do not take a cash salary or bonus from anywhere. I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock," Musk tweeted on Nov 6.

In March, the South Africa-born Musk, in a response on Twitter to an article on the CleanTechnica website, described Sanders' attacks on aerospace manufacturer SpaceX as "truly ridiculous".

Tesla, which is based in Palo Alto, California, but announced in October that it will move its headquarters to Austin, Texas, sold 54,391 vehicles manufactured in China in October, including 40,666 for export, the China Passenger Car Association reported on Nov 8.

Tesla makes Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles in Shanghai. The $43,000 Model Y was the bestselling SUV in China in October.

Grace Tao, vice-president of Tesla China, recently told The Paper that the company is nearing full production of its cars locally in China.

"I hope that in the near future, not only will the Chinese-made (Tesla) models reach nearly 100 percent localized productivity, they may also be able to witness the vehicles independently designed and manufactured by the Chinese team driving on Chinese roads," she said.

Agencies contributed to this story.