Did Elon Musk ‘catfish’ everyone online about secured funding?
So, was he full of… crap, or was Elon Musk telling the truth last week when he tweeted that Tesla had secured funding to take the company private? Well, according to the Tesla CEO, the Saudi wealth fund will take the electric car company private – and they have spoken about this matter multiple times. So (apparently), the funding is just a matter of crossing some T’s and dotting some I’s.
Buying all of Tesla’s shares would cost… $72 billion, which is a steep price for anyone to pay. However, it won’t be quite that much because Musk plans to retain his 20% stake in Tesla and expects many others to do the same. Musk estimates that about two-thirds of shareholders would keep their shares, which would make the cost of going private around $24 billion – still the fourth most expensive deal to take a company private.
But there are still plenty of doubters… shares were up 3% early on Monday, but those gains were short-lived. While many investors seem to like the idea of Tesla going private, they won’t be buying until things are a little more certain. The funding is secure, but the rest of the deal not so much.