A MUSK-HAVE

SEC probes claim he has $ to privatize Tesla

Federal regulators opened a probe into Tesla Wednesday after Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take the company private, according to reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has made inquiries into the truthfulness of Musk’s Tuesday tweets claiming he had the backing to take his $60 billion company private at $420 a share, about 20 percent higher than where shares were on Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Regulators also asked why Musk made his comments over Twitter and whether they had followed investor protection rules, according to the report.

Tesla representatives didn’t return an e-mail Wednesday seeking comment. A spokeswoman at the SEC declined to comment.

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” Musk tweeted Tuesday.

Shares of the electric-car maker surged on the shocking tweet, and ultimately caused exchanges to halt trading until almost the end of the day — when investors piled back in.

Musk is likely to face tough regulatory scrutiny over two words in his surprise tweet: “funding secured,” legal experts said.

“If someone said, ‘ Yeah, I might be willing to do that,’ that probably wouldn’t count,” Cornell Law School professor Robert C. Hockett told The Post.

“It would have to be something at least semiformal,” he said, adding that the key terms of a contract would have had to have been agreed upon.

Following Musk’s tweet, reports emerged that he hadn’t recently reached out to any known bank about a deal to take it private.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son had discussed taking the company private in April 2017, but ultimately turned down the deal because Musk wanted too much control, Bloomberg reported.

In a statement Wednesday, six of Tesla’s nine board members said Musk had discussed taking the company private “last week,” and they are taking the next steps — but didn’t mention funding.

Musk, who doesn’t normally shy away from Twitter, didn’t mention anything about going private Wednesday.

Investors trimmed away some of Tuesday’s 11 percent gains on Wednesday. The company decreased 2.4 percent, to $370.34.

Some short-sellers, who bet that a company will lose value, increased their positions on Wednesday, Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing partner at S3 Analytics, told The Post.

Another of the shortsellers, who Musk has said are a reason for going private, appeared to revel in the recent Tesla drama — even though he’s getting squeezed on his position.

“The short position is the best thing the stock has going for it. ‘Musk vs. The Shorts’ is a far better narrative than ‘Tesla vs Mercedes/Audi/Porsche,’ ” Jim Chanos, an investor who’s been vocal about his bet against Tesla, said on CNBC.

On Monday, David Einhorn said his Greenlight Capital fund took heavy losses on his Tesla short position in the second quarter.