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Elon Musk Says Investors Convinced Him Tesla Should Stay Public (washingtonpost.com)
Weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed his intentions to take his company private, on late Friday, he said investors have convinced him that he shouldn't take the company private, so the firm will remain on the public stock markets. From a report: The eccentric and sometimes erratic CEO said in a statement late Friday that he made the decision based on feedback from shareholders, including institutional investors, who said they have internal rules limiting how much they can sink into a private company. Musk met with the electric car and solar panel company's board on Thursday to tell them he wanted to stay public and the board agreed, according to the statement. In a blog post, Mr. Musk shared the rationale behind his decision, to which he arrived after speaking with investors, both large and small, banks and others. He said: Given the feedback I've received, it's apparent that most of Tesla's existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company. Additionally, a number of institutional shareholders have explained that they have internal compliance issues that limit how much they can invest in a private company. There is also no proven path for most retail investors to own shares if we were private. Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was "please don't do this."
I knew the process of going private would be challenging, but it's clear that it would be even more time-consuming and distracting than initially anticipated. This is a problem because we absolutely must stay focused on ramping Model 3 and becoming profitable. We will not achieve our mission of advancing sustainable energy unless we are also financially sustainable. That said, my belief that there is more than enough funding to take Tesla private was reinforced during this process.
I knew the process of going private would be challenging, but it's clear that it would be even more time-consuming and distracting than initially anticipated. This is a problem because we absolutely must stay focused on ramping Model 3 and becoming profitable. We will not achieve our mission of advancing sustainable energy unless we are also financially sustainable. That said, my belief that there is more than enough funding to take Tesla private was reinforced during this process.
So, is Musk's way of saying if he tried to take Tesla private the board would've ousted him?
when did changing your mind become a crime
Disseminating or manipulating information that can affect stock prices is tightly regulated by the SEC. Doing so in a false or misleading way can be a criminal offense.
Elon used Twitter is make an announcement that caused a big movement in Tesla's stock price. He profited big time from this by forcing many shorties to abandon their positions at a loss. Then he comes back and says "Nevermind".
There should be an SEC investigation, and if it turns out that the "investors" never existed with the capital to privatize, then there should be criminal charges.
Disclaimer: My wife owns a Tesla, and I have been accused in the past of being a Tesla-fanboi.
LOL. Why is it that Americans always forget that there's a world outside of America?
LOL back. A lot of us here on Slashdot aren't Americans, and in the world outside of the Soviet Republic of California, demand for Tesla is non-existent.
One reason is, of course, the absurdly high prices of what is otherwise a pretty unremarkable vehicle.
In places like Western Europe, where it is within financial reach of the affluent minority, the sales outside of the two countries that provide a significant subsidy are down sharply: https://twitter.com/auto_schmi...
The Dutch subsidy is disappearing next year, so the "success story" there will closely follow that in HK, where Tesla had a bunch of sales pre-2017, and these went down to practically nil when the HK subsidy disappeared and customers realized at the real price a Tesla isn't a bargain.
But the major shift in the interest away from Tesla in Europe is due to new models, real cars from real car manufacturers that actually have adequate finish and pleasant interior, becoming available this or next year. The demand will fall further when people see the horse carriage that is the Model 3 in real life.
I tried one the other day, and frankly, I liked the dashboard of my Trabant in 1987 better. Compared to the Polski Fiat 125p, M3 is abysmal. Maybe Kalashnikov isn't far off with their electric car, you know.
Model 3 sales are only open to the US and Canada - and I watch even people from there trying to pass the time waiting for their cars every day on the Tesla forums.
It is very interesting that despite the "pent up demand", Tesla has a huge number of vehicles that aren't being shipped to those waiting customers even in the US. Why would that be? Does it have to do with the terrible quality?
It's really frustrating hearing shorts and short-aligned people
Yawn, that "short" thing is really getting old.