INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Elon Musk, billionaire founder of Tesla, startled the Twittersphere yesterday by announcinghe wanted to take the company private at the
While some speculated the tweet was a joke or a marijuana reference, others took to the market
The tweet sent the stock soaring up 11 percent, causing a halt in trade for a portion of the day.
Now, the Securities and Exchange
Commission is looking into the matter.
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420
Funding secured.
mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
Wall Street Journal sources say the SEC has since made inquiries to Tesla to
find out whether Musk tweet was truthful and why he chose to announce such a move on Twitter instead of through a regulatory filing
Musk could be held legally liable if regulators determine he was intentionally trying to boost the stock price with his tweet.
Musk later
explained in a letter to employees going private was ''the best path forward& as it would shield the company from &wild swings in our stock
price that can be a major distraction& and relieve pressure from quarterly earnings cycles that aren''t necessarily in the best long-term
We&ve reached out to the SEC and Tesla for more information on the matter.
Musk also indicated in the tweet he&d secured funding for the
startling move, though it unclear where the funding would be coming from at this time as he has yet to disclose those details
The tweet appeared shortly afternews broke that a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fundbought a $2 billion stake in Tesla and, according to
the WSJ, Musk spoke with a group of Tesla board members last week about taking the company private.
