Tesla CEO considers buying out company

Musk tweets that he might buy all of electric car maker’s stock for $72 billion

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering leading a buyout of the electric car maker in a stunning move that would end the maverick company’s eightyear history of trading on the stock market.

In his typically unorthodox fashion, the eccentric Mr. Musk dropped his bombshell on his Twitter account, which he has used as a platform for pranks, vitriol, and now for a proposal to pull off one of the biggest buyouts in U.S. history.

Mr. Musk got the ball rolling Tuesday after the stock market had already been open more than three hours with a tweet announcing he might buy all of Tesla’s stock at $420 per share with no further details.

At that price, the buyout would cost nearly $72 billion, based on Tesla’s outstanding stock as of July 27, but it’s unlikely the deal would cost that much because Mr. Musk owns a roughly 20 percent stake in the Palo Alto, Calif., company. He also said he intends to give Tesla’s existing shareholders the option of retaining a stake in the company through a special fund, if they want.

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” Mr. Musk wrote in his first tweet, following up with “good morning” and a smiley emoji.

His tweet came hours after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had built a significant stake in Tesla Inc., but it was unclear if that was the funding Mr. Musk was