Elon Musk to pay highest tax in history

Elon Musk, the world's richest person and Tesla CEO, will pay more than $11 billion in taxes this year, he said in a tweet.

This could amount to a record payment to the US Internal Revenue Service.

Musk could face a tax bill of more than $10 billion this year, if he exercises all of his options due to expire next year, calculations by Bloomberg last week revealed.

The billionaire has exercised nearly 15 million options and sold millions of shares to cover taxes related to those transactions.

Musk has previously paid little income taxes compared to his vast wealth, according to a report by ProPublica published in June.

He rejected this by saying that he doesn't draw a salary from either SpaceX or Tesla, and that he pays a 53 percent tax rate on the stock options he exercises.

Musk added that he expected the tax rate to increase next year.

The Tesla CEO said earlier this month, in response to another tweet from Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who called for a recall on his taxes, that he would pay more in taxes than any American in history this year.