One Week AFTER Elon Musk's Tesla Tweet About Going Private, Still NO Formal Offer...Now What?

Tesla Inc’s board named a special committee of three directors on Tuesday to decide what to do about Chief Executive Elon Musk’s potential offer to take the electric carmaker private, although Musk has yet to make a formal offer and is still negotiating to hire advisers needed to do a deal.

The board announced the move in Tesla’s first filing with regulators since Musk tweeted a week ago that he was considering taking the company private and had already secured funding for a $420-per-share offer, valuing Tesla at $72 billion.

Since that unorthodox announcement on Aug. 7, which has triggered investor lawsuits and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk and Tesla have scrambled to bring order to the process of negotiating a deal...
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TomM - 8/15/2018 9:07:54 AM

+6 Boost

You mean there were people who were actually expecting an offer - surely not.

PUGPROUD - 8/15/2018 9:15:37 AM

+1 Boost

This saga will take month's to play out with the three person Tesla board committee walking on egg shells. The smart thing would be to take a quick lay of the land, kill this idea and move on. However Musk's hand picked board has to explore and stretch it out for him to save face (though way too late for that). As usual the lawyers on both sides of the issue will make out best in the end.

Vette71 - 8/15/2018 10:15:50 AM

+3 Boost

Apparently there are people around him coming forward with statements that he admitted he did it out of frustration to get the "shorts". That's stock manipulation plain and simple. Besides the Board looking at how to structure a deal with somebody, they need to deal with the issue that he may have to be replaced. If that happens the stock will tank, but it may then be possible to find a buyer to carry it forward.

supermoto - 8/15/2018 11:18:44 AM

+3 Boost

SEC just sent a subpoenas to Tesla - a formal investigation has started. Not good news. Any buyers wanting to take the company private can just wait and get it for half price.

malba2367 - 8/15/2018 11:24:04 AM

+5 Boost

I would hope he was not stupid enough to attempt to create a short squeeze by making these twitter posts. That would rank up there on one of the stupidest moves by a CEO in a long time.

mre30 - 8/15/2018 2:06:13 PM

+3 Boost

In addition to the obvious looming legal issues as a result of his Tweet, the crickets out there now on Musk's (ahem #securitiesfraud?) announcement that it would be sold for $420/share and taken private, had the unintended result of prompting the deep-pocketed, investing public to tell Tesla management privately, that Tesla's only really only worth about $10 - $20 million as a private company based on its non-existent cash flow.

Musk's idiocy has now forced many uncomfortable conversations about how wildly overvalued Tesla is. Those thoughts that were left 'unsaid' 10 days ago, are now out in the open. Musk needs to go. Immediately; Harvey Weinstein or Matt Lauer immediately.

#Enron2.0

countguy - 8/15/2018 12:03:05 PM

+3 Boost

lmao, womp womp

wilfred - 8/15/2018 12:18:58 PM

+1 Boost

Then Geely comes along...

GermanNut - 8/15/2018 7:17:12 PM

+4 Boost

The SEC has already subpoenaed Tesla and launched a formal investigation regarding Elon Musk's tweet about taking the company private at $420 per share. I firmly believe Elon Musk committed securities fraud. Funding has not been lined up and there never was any agreement in writing approved by Tesla's board or its shareholders to take the company private. Elon Musk's tweet manipulated the shares of Tesla based on false information.

This is the last thing the company needs after its well publicized manufacturing setbacks and looming competition in the form of Audi's eTron all-electric SUV.