Tesla, Sale of Three-for-One Split Shares on August 25

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc said on Friday that trading in its three-for-one stock split will begin on August 25, after the electric vehicle maker's shareholders approved the proposal at its annual meeting.

The electric vehicle maker's shareholders voted for board proposals on most issues at the company's annual meeting on Thursday, including the re-election of directors and approval of the stock split, while rejecting proposals focused on the environment and governance. Chief Executive Elon Musk now owns 15.6% of Tesla after selling millions of shares last year, according to Refinitiv data. Each shareholder of record on August 17 will receive two additional shares of dividends for each share held, to be distributed after the close of trading on August 24, the company said in a statement. The new share split comes two years after a five-for-one stock split helped bring the price of high-priced stocks down to a level accessible to ordinary investors. While the split does not affect a company's fundamentals, it can raise the share price by making it easier for a wider range of investors to own the stock. Tesla shares, which debuted at $17 apiece in 2010, rose to over $1,200 by the end of the year after the 2020 stock split, pushing the company's market capitalization to over $1 trillion. Tesla shares, which closed down 6.6% on Friday, have fallen nearly 18% this year. At Thursday's meeting, shareholders narrowly approved an advisory proposal that would increase investors' ability to nominate directors, with 339.2 million votes for the proposal and about 319 million votes against it. A shareholder proposal that would have required Tesla to report annually on its efforts to prevent racial discrimination and sexual harassment was rejected by 310 million votes to 350.7 million votes.