Elon Musk: On Second Thought, Tesla Won't Go Private

Over two weeks ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took everyone by surprise by announcing his intention to take Tesla private. But those plans have been scrapped.

Last night, Musk published a blog post saying that he had met with the board and “let them know that I believe the better path is for Tesla to remain public. The Board indicated that they agree.”

"Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was ‘please don’t do this,” wrote Musk.

In a separate statement, Tesla's board of directors confirmed Musk's decision.

"Yesterday, we held a Board meeting, during which Elon reported on the work he and his advisors have been doing in connection with this effort. Elon communicated to the Board that after having done this work and considered all factors, he believes the better path is to no longer pursue a transaction for taking Tesla private. After discussing this, we dissolved the Special Committee. The Board and the entire company remain focused on ensuring Tesla’s operational success, and we fully support Elon as he continues to lead the company moving forward," the statement says.

This saga began with a tweet back on August 7th,

This tweet sent everyone into a tizzy and caused NASDAQ to halt trading of Tesla stock for a few hours. There was one big question, how was Tesla going to fund this? Musk revealed a week later that it would be Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, though reports say the fund isn't so thrilled about this idea. As we reported earlier this week, the fund is in talks with another electric automaker, Lucid Motors.

The announcement has prompted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to subpoena the company, along with a number of lawsuits from upset investors.

Source: Tesla, Bloomberg