Photo: Instagram/Elon Musk
Last week, Elon Musk caused quite a stir in the financial and automotive industries after announcing on Twitter his plan to take Tesla private, in effect removing the company’s stocks from the open market.
At about the same time he tweeted this, reports of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund taking an interest in the company, beyond just buying shares on the stock market, surfaced.
A link between Musk’s tweet and the Saudi involvement was soon made as the CEO’s announcement ended with the “funding secured" phrase. All those interested, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), wanted to know precisely what that means.
On Monday, August 13, Musk posted further details on his idea on Tesla’s blog. In the very structured post, which you can read in full in the document attached below, Musk explains why he chose to make the announcement on Twitter and confirmed that it was the Saudi’s he was referring to when talking about funding.
The billionaire says the Saudis have been pushing him to take Tesla private for almost two years, promising to back him up should he make this decision. Musk justifies the Saudi interest in electric vehicles and his company with their need to “diversify away from oil.”
The last meeting between Musk and the Saudi representative took place on July 31, and concluded with Musk having “no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving.”
This is why, he says, he decided to use the “funding secured” phrase that caused such a commotion.
As for the money to be paid by the Saudis should a deal be reached, Musk says the sum is nowhere near the $70 billion the media talks about for the simple reason that the fund will not buy all the company’s stock, but only that of the people who do not remain with the company if it is private.
A link between Musk’s tweet and the Saudi involvement was soon made as the CEO’s announcement ended with the “funding secured" phrase. All those interested, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), wanted to know precisely what that means.
On Monday, August 13, Musk posted further details on his idea on Tesla’s blog. In the very structured post, which you can read in full in the document attached below, Musk explains why he chose to make the announcement on Twitter and confirmed that it was the Saudi’s he was referring to when talking about funding.
The billionaire says the Saudis have been pushing him to take Tesla private for almost two years, promising to back him up should he make this decision. Musk justifies the Saudi interest in electric vehicles and his company with their need to “diversify away from oil.”
The last meeting between Musk and the Saudi representative took place on July 31, and concluded with Musk having “no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving.”
This is why, he says, he decided to use the “funding secured” phrase that caused such a commotion.
As for the money to be paid by the Saudis should a deal be reached, Musk says the sum is nowhere near the $70 billion the media talks about for the simple reason that the fund will not buy all the company’s stock, but only that of the people who do not remain with the company if it is private.
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