Riff-raffs in the world of business is not a new story. So are miscalculated steps which can leave unpleasantly lapidary marks. Elon Musk too was in such a mishap with his “funding secured” tweet in 2018 following his fruitless efforts to take Tesla private. Since then, the whole event has cast a dark shadow over the billionaire’s reputation. At present, the ongoing shareholder lawsuit has cast light on several details of the 2018 issue as it brought forth a series of text messages that were exchanged between Musk, his investors, as well as the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. The events that conspired almost four years before echo even today and the series of texts adds clarity to the whole convoluted saga. Read along to know more.
The What and Why
In a nutshell, through the texts Musk insists that the PIF had committed to taking Tesla private with him. However, the events did not really go as planned, and Musk’s displeasure is well reflected in his rather upset tone that dominates the texts. In the texts exchanged with the head of Saudi PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Musk expresses his displeasure at the incongruence between the discussions they had and the way things turned out. Take a look at the text,
“This is an extremely weak statement and does not reflect the conversation we had at Tesla. You said you were definitely interested in taking Tesla private and had wanted to do it since 2016.”
Al-Rumayyan responded to Musk’s text with, “It’s up to you Elon.” to which Musk’s chagrined reply was, “You are throwing me under the bus.” The rest of the exchange is a similar back and forth with neither of the parties ready to give up their stance.
Apparently, as the story goes, Musk had informed Al-Rumayyan that Tesla is planning to go forward with the private equity firm Silver Lake, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and other investors. However, quite in contrast to what he had said, the very next day a blog post was published by Musk which stated PIF’s interest in taking Tesla private. He also added that this was the reason behind his tweet, “funding secured.” However, this did not go very well with the non-disclosure agreement which was signed by Musk according to Al-Rumayyan. Following a long saga of riff-raffs and disagreements, the plan was shelved and Musk published a blog post, “Staying Public.”
Years have gone by and yet the trouble hasn’t passed since Musk is now being sued by his investors in the federal court for the misleading information that led to major losses. Musk still stands by his word and insists that the Saudi PIF had committed to take Tesla private.
