BIZ IN BRIEF

Super charge

Launcher of rocket ships and evangelist of electric vehicles Elon Musk has tweeted his company Tesla into a tight spot. On Wednesday, United States financial regulators subpoenaed Tesla after Musk tweeted that he was considering taking the company private and that money has been secured for the deal, the Financial Times reported. Tesla shares rallied, rising 11%, according to a New York Times report. But it had since emerged that the funding was not as certain as the impression created by the tweet. In a company blog post, Musk cited the ongoing interest of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in the deal. According to Reuters, his woes have been compounded by class action lawsuits from short sellers of Tesla’s stock, who have traditionally been a thorn in Musk’s side, claiming his antics were designed to squeeze their positions and manipulate the market.

Blame game