Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently tweeted he was considering leading a buyout of the electric car maker, thus making the company private – which sent Tesla shares flying by 11 percent, at $379.
READ MORE: Tesla Posts Record $717Mln Loss in Q2
Immediately after the multi-CEO tweeted that he mulled going private at $420 per share, and had secured funding, Tesla’s stock soared by more than 7% percent.
Shortly afterwards, he published a blogpost, entitled “Taking Tesla private” that appeared to be an email sent out to the company’s staffers earlier in the day.
“Either they can stay investors in a private Tesla or they can be bought out at $420 per share, which is a 20% premium over the stock price following our Q2 earnings call (which had already increased by 16%). My hope is for all shareholders to remain, but if they prefer to be bought out, then this would enable that to happen at a nice premium,” he penned.
His announcement on Twitter came shortly after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had purchased a 3 percent to 5 percent stake in Tesla worth up to $2.9 billion.
Tesla’s shares appear to be sensitive to the CEO’s actions; they recently fell over 3.5 percent after Musk called a diver involved in rescue operation of children trapped in Thai caves a “pedo.”
READ MORE: Tesla Shares Surge After Elon Musk Apologizes For Company’s Losses
In 2010, Tesla became the first US carmaker to go public since Ford in 1956.