Elon Musk testified in a San Francisco federal court on Monday that he was sure he had secured financial support from Saudi investors in 2018 to take his electric car maker Tesla Inc. private. He said he could even have used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout. However, he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process. He is defending against claims that he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that “investor support is confirmed.”
At the trial, Musk spoke quietly and calmly for roughly five hours. He said that with SpaceX stock alone, he felt funding was secured for the buyout. Tesla’s stock price surged after Musk’s 2018 tweets, only to fall as it became clear the buyout would not happen. Investors say they lost millions of dollars as a result.
Musk testified that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. He acknowledged that a takeover price was not discussed, but said the Saudi representatives made clear they would do what it took to make a buyout happen. He said that he was very upset when the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment. He also testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to fund the go-private deal.
The trial tests Musk’s penchant for taking to Twitter to air his sometimes irreverent views, and when he can be held liable for crossing a line. A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company’s share price by touting the buyout’s prospects, and if so by how much. Musk testified that when tweeting about the financing, he was saying “not that it will happen, but that I am thinking about it,” and that it was his “opinion” that funding was secured.
He also testified that while Twitter, which he bought in October, was the most democratic way to communicate, his tweets did not always affect Tesla stock the way he expects. The defendants also include current and former Tesla directors, whom Spiro said had “pure” motives in their response to Musk’s plan.
Elon Musk testified in a San Francisco federal court on Monday that he was sure he had secured financial support from Saudi investors in 2018 to take his electric car maker Tesla Inc. private. He said he could even have used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout. However, he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process. Investors allege that they lost millions of dollars as a result of his August 2018 tweet, which stated that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share.
At the trial, Musk spoke quietly and calmly for roughly five hours. He said that with SpaceX stock alone, he felt funding was secured for the buyout. He testified that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. He acknowledged that a takeover price was not discussed, but said the Saudi representatives made clear they would do what it took to make a buyout happen. He said that he was very upset when the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment. He also testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to fund the go-private deal.
The trial tests Musk’s penchant for taking to Twitter to air his sometimes irreverent views, and when he can be held liable for crossing a line. A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company’s share price by touting the buyout’s prospects, and if so by how much. Musk testified that when tweeting about the financing, he was saying “not that it will happen, but that I am thinking about it,” and that it was his “opinion” that funding was secured. He also testified that while Twitter, which he bought in October, was the most democratic way to communicate, his tweets did not always affect Tesla stock the way he expects.
Elon Musk testified in a San Francisco federal court on Monday that he had secured financial support from Saudi investors in 2018 to take his electric car maker Tesla Inc. private. He said he could have used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout, but chose not to due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process. Investors allege that they lost millions of dollars as a result of his August 2018 tweet, which stated that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share.
At the trial, Musk spoke quietly and calmly for roughly five hours. He said that with SpaceX stock alone, he felt funding was secured for the buyout. He testified that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. He acknowledged that a takeover price was not discussed, but said the Saudi representatives made clear they would do what it took to make a buyout happen. However, he was very upset when the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment. He also testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to fund the go-private deal.
The trial tests Musk’s penchant for taking to Twitter to air his sometimes irreverent views, and when he can be held liable for crossing a line. A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company’s share price by touting the buyout’s prospects, and if so by how much. Musk testified that when tweeting about the financing, he was saying “not that it will happen, but that I am thinking about it,” and that it was his “opinion” that funding was secured. He also testified that while Twitter, which he bought in October, was the most democratic way to communicate, his tweets did not always affect Tesla stock the way he expects.
Elon Musk is currently on trial in a San Francisco federal court, defending himself against claims that he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that “investor support is confirmed.” During his testimony, he said that he was sure he had locked up financial support from Saudi investors in 2018 to take Tesla private, and could even have used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout. However, he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process.
At the trial, Musk spoke quietly and calmly for roughly five hours. He said that with SpaceX stock alone, he felt funding was secured for the buyout. He testified that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. He acknowledged that a takeover price was not discussed, but said the Saudi representatives made clear they would do what it took to make a buyout happen. However, he was very upset when the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment. He also testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to fund the go-private deal.
The trial tests Musk’s penchant for taking to Twitter to air his sometimes irreverent views, and when he can be held liable for crossing a line. A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company’s share price by touting the buyout’s prospects, and if so by how much. Musk testified that when tweeting about the financing, he was saying “not that it will happen, but that I am thinking about it,” and that it was his “opinion” that funding was secured. He also testified that while Twitter, which he bought in October, was the most democratic way to communicate, his tweets did not always affect Tesla stock the way he expects.
Elon Musk is currently on trial in a San Francisco federal court, defending himself against claims that he defrauded investors when he tweeted on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that “investor support is confirmed.” During his testimony, he said that he was sure he had locked up financial support from Saudi investors in 2018 to take Tesla private, and could even have used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout. However, he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process.
At the trial, Musk spoke quietly and calmly for roughly five hours. He said that with SpaceX stock alone, he felt funding was secured for the buyout. He testified that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. He acknowledged that a takeover price was not discussed, but said the Saudi representatives made clear they would do what it took to make a buyout happen. However, he was very upset when the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment. He also testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to fund the go-private deal.
The trial tests Musk’s penchant for taking to Twitter to air his sometimes irreverent views, and when he can be held liable for crossing a line. A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company’s share price by touting
