* **In a tweet to Martin Viecha, Tesla’s senior director of investor relations, Tesla bull Leo Koguan said the company should immediately announce that it plans to buy back $5 billion of Tesla shares this year and $10 billion next year.**
* **Tesla shares closed down more than 6% on Wednesday amid a broad market sell-off. The company’s stock has fallen n more than 30% this year.**
* **A stock buyback, when a public company uses cash to buy shares of its own on the open market, is a method that firms use to try to return capital to shareholders.**
Billionaire Leo Koguan, who claims to be the third-largest individual shareholder of Tesla stock, is calling on the carmaker to announce a $15 billion stock buyback as the company’s share price continues to fall.
In a tweet to Martin Viecha, Tesla’s senior director of investor relations, Koguan said the company should immediately announce it plans to buy back $5 billion of Tesla shares this year and $10 billion next year. He added that Tesla should use its free cashflow to fund the buyback and that it shouldn’t affect its existing $18 billion cash reserves.
In a follow up tweet, Koguan said Tesla’s free cash flow amounted to $2.2 billion in the first quarter of the year. He added that he expects it to climb to $8 billion this year and $17 billion next year, after capital expenditures have been factored in.
In another tweet, he said Tesla can invest in full self-driving, its Optimus bot and new factories while also buying back its “undervalued stocks.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Tesla shares closed down more than 6% on Wednesday amid a broad market sell-off. The company’s stock has fallen more than 30% this year. Tesla was down slightly in morning trading Thursday.
