Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he could have used his shares in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout, but decided against doing so because of a lack of support from some investors.
Elon Musk told jurors on Monday he is sure he turned down financial backing from Saudi investors to take his electric carmaker Tesla Inc private in 2018, and even used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to buy Could do for
At a trial in San Francisco federal court, the billionaire, who said he was exhausted from lack of sleep, spoke quietly and calmly during nearly five hours of testimony.
"With the SpaceX stock alone, I thought the funding was secure" for the buyout, he told a jury, referring to the aerospace company where he is also CEO. He later said that he decided not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a desire to avoid a lengthy process.
Musk has been defending against claims that he defrauded investors by tweeting on August 7, 2018, that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that "confirmation of investor support Has been done."
The trial tests Musk's penchant for taking to Twitter to air his sometimes irrelevant views, and when the world's second-richest man can be held liable for crossing a line.
Tesla's share price skyrocketed after Musk's 2018 tweet, only to decline as it became clear that the buyout would not happen. Investors say that they have lost millions of dollars due to this.
Musk told investors' attorney Nicolas Porritt that he met with representatives of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, on July 31, 2018, at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.
He acknowledged that an acquisition price had not been discussed, but said Saudi representatives made it clear they would do whatever it takes to make a purchase.
This never happened, Musk said, because the fund's governor, Yasser al-Rumayyan, later reneged on a commitment to take Tesla private.
Musk testified, "I was very upset because when we met he was clear in his support for taking Tesla private and now he appears to be backing down."
Al-Rumayyan's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Porritt later told the court that the written evidence did not support Musk's claim about the Saudis' original intentions, adding that the minutes of their meeting showed that the Saudis wanted to know more about what Musk had in mind. What was in
Musk later testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to finance the go-private deal, as he sold part of his Tesla stake last year to help fund his bid to take Twitter private. Was.
Musk is expected to continue his third day of testimony on Tuesday.
'not a joke'
A nine-member jury will decide whether Tesla's CEO artificially inflated the company's share price by citing buyout prospects, and if so by how much.
Musk testified that when tweeting about the funding, he was saying "it won't happen, but I'm thinking about it" and that it was his "opinion" that the funding was secure.
US Judge Edward Chen ruled last May that Musk's post was untrue and reckless.
Musk has also been sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the tweets, which led to a combined $40 million settlement for him and Tesla and a requirement that a Tesla lawyer screen some of his tweets in advance.
The SEC alleged that Musk raised the alleged buyout offer to $419 to $420 per share because he had recently learned of the high amount's "importance in marijuana culture" and thought his girlfriend would find it funny.
Musk denied thinking so.
"It was chosen because it was a 20% premium over the stock price," he testified. "The $420 price was not a joke."
He began testifying Friday, telling jurors that while Twitter, which he bought in October, was the most democratic way to communicate, his tweets didn't always affect Tesla stock the way he hoped.
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