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Musk Raged At Saudi Fund Chief For Not Funding Him To Take Tesla Private
- By The Financial District
- Apr 28, 2022
- 2 min read
Elon Musk raged at the head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for failing to back his bid to take Tesla private in 2018, complaining that he was being thrown “under the bus,” according to newly disclosed text messages, Andrew J. Hawkins of The Verge.
Photo Insert: “I am deeply offended,” Musk wrote to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), on August 12, 2018.
“I am deeply offended,” Musk wrote to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), on August 12, 2018.
The texts were sent a few days after Musk shocked the financial world by tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 a share, adding “funding secured.”
The digits 420 also stand for April 20, which is marijuana day in the US. It also correspondents to the day when Musk borrowed money and offered to buy out Twitter, indicating his obsession with weed.
The now infamous tweet triggered a lawsuit from Tesla shareholders, who claim that Musk lied about having the money required to delist Tesla from the stock exchange and take it private.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined Musk and Tesla for claiming in 2018 that he had the money to take Tesla private even as he failed to win the PIF’s nod to bankroll the deal, with Al-Rumayyan telling Musk that he had not received the financial information he needed to consider Musk’s offer.
Musk’s texts with Al-Rumayyan stand out for the ferocity on display. The billionaire CEO was incensed by news stories that claimed that PIF has “shown no interest” in helping take Tesla private, claiming that Saudi officials have told him otherwise.
The news stories were “false” and “outrageous,” Musk raged. SEC found out that Musk never discussed a going-private transaction at $420 per share with any potential funding source, had done nothing to investigate whether it would be possible for all investors to remain with Tesla as a private company via a special purpose fund.
He also did not secure support of Tesla’s investors for the transaction.
