Home » US business news » Elon Musk says he had “funding secured” for Tesla takeover in trial over 2018 tweet
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Elon Musk aggressively defended himself during his third day of testimony in San Francisco.
The billionaire told jurors he never had trouble securing funds and was certain in bringing off the plan four-and-a-half years ago.
Mr. Musk claims to have met a Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund which indicated support for a deal.
READ MORE: ELON MUSK TELLS COURT HIS TESLA GO-PRIVATE TWEET HAD ‘UNEQUIVOCAL’ BACKING
But he conceded that a specific funding amount was not negotiated in the meeting.
The Tesla boss is charged with misleading investors into believing he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $450 per share and that "investor support is confirmed".
The suit was filed by investors who claimed to have lost billions after the 2018 tweet was found to be false.
The tweet made Tesla share prices skyrocket.
But they quickly plummeted when Mr. Musk revealed the plan won’t be materialized, causing a major pushback for him.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered him to resign as Tesla’s chairman required any tweets about Tesla to be vetted by an independent committee.
Musk and Tesla were also fined $20 million each to resolve an SEC charge that he committed securities fraud.
During court proceedings on Tuesday, January 24, Musk and his attorney argued the proposal was seriously considered for nearly two weeks, with negotiations with key investors and other companies.
Mr. Musk said the plan got eventually abandoned after talks with smaller investors.
It led him to conclude they would prefer that the company remain publicly traded on the stock exchange.
The trial continues.
Source: BBC
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