Elon Musk Tweets Out That He Plans To Take Tesla Private For $420 A Share, A Proposal That Tesla’s Board Has Considered Earlier

American engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk yesterday (7 August) tweeted out that he was considering taking his electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla Inc, private at $420 a share.

Musk’s tweets sent people into a tizzy for should such a buyout take place it would be the largest of its kind, taking Tesla’s value at approximately $70 billion. The Wall Street Journal reports that a Suadi Arabia-based investment firm had acquired a 5 per cent stake in the California-based EV manufacturer.

While Tesla’s social media accounts remained tight-lipped in the aftermath of the tweets, the company halted trading shares on Nasdaq for a few hours. When trading resumed a few hours later, they witnessed a 11 per cent spike, reaching $379.57.

However, this isn’t the first time that Tesla has considered going private.

Over the last one week, the company’s board has met several times to discuss the potential buyout. Musk has stated that negative propaganda by “shortsellers” would end by going private.

Several board members have said that he had initiated discussions on the matter over the last few days. A statement on the matter was released, signed by seven of the company’s nine independent board members.