Elon Musk says he could have raised funds to take Tesla private

Mr. Musk has testified in a lawsuit brought by investors who say his 2018 statements about a plan to buy back the automaker's shares cost them billions.

Elon Musk said on Monday he had not lied or misspoke about his plan to take Tesla off the stock exchange in 2018, testifying in federal court that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund had "unequivocally wanted to take Tesla private" .

Investors are suing Mr. Musk, Tesla and the company's board of directors because they say they lost money over the statements of Mr. Musk regarding his plan to privatize Tesla, which subsequently collapsed.

On August 7, 2018, Mr. Musk, who was then Chairman and CEO of the automaker electric car, wrote on Twitter: "I am considering taking Tesla $420 private. Funding secured. It then wrote: “Investor support confirmed. The only reason it's not certain is that it depends on a shareholder vote. Tesla's stock price surged after those posts, but then fell when the proposal fell through. outcome of this case, which is being tried in San Francisco. An investor victory could mean Mr. Musk and Tesla would have to pay billions of dollars in damages. But winning the case would allow Mr. Musk to claim vindication against his critics.

The judge handling the case, Edward M. Chen, has already ruled that "funding is guaranteed" and Mr. Musk's second statement on Tesla's privatization were false.

Mr. Musk has so far testified for about four hours in this trial and is due back to take the stand on Tuesday. He answered Monday's questions about the Saudi fund, the Public Investment Fund, from a lawyer for the plaintiffs who pressed him for more details about the company's plan to privatize. Musk said Saudi fund officials had not signed any documents committing to a deal or discussed how much they would invest in the deal.

"The exact amount wouldn't be known without knowing who else would be involved," he said. But he added that he had believed that "if they say they're going to do something, they do."

Taking a public company off the stock exchange can be costly and difficult. money to buy all or most of its shares.

The Saudi fund, which had amassed a 5% stake in Tesla before Mr. Musk announced his plans would have been an important part of any deal.Mr Musk had long claimed that Saudi investors were committed to the deal.

Text messages between Mr. Musk and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who oversees the Saudi fund, appeared in court filings last year. In those posts, Mr. Musk slammed Mr. Al-Rumayyan after reports suggested the fund was lukewarm about a deal. Mr. Al-Rumayyan said in the texts that Tesla and Mr. Musk had not provided enough information for the fund to proceed. Mr. Musk called Mr. Al-Rumayyan's texts "backpedaling".

Mr. Musk and Tesla's legal team tried unsuccessfully to compel fund employees to testify at the trial. This month, lawyers for the fund called the subpoenas "legally flawed" and "frankly, frivolous". A spokesperson for the fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Mr. Musk testified that "secured funding" refers not only to financing from the Saudi fund, but also to his stake in SpaceX, the rocket company of which he is also chief executive. Mr. Musk theoretically could have borrowed against his SpaceX stake or sold some of those shares to raise the money to take Tesla private.

"That's a point important, and you seem to be deliberately avoiding it," Musk told Nicholas Porritt, an attorney for the plaintiffs. But when questioned by Mr. Porritt, Mr. Musk acknowledged that he had not mentioned his SpaceX actions as a source. funding potential...