Elon Musk's mysterious ways on display in Tesla tweet trial

SAN FRANCISCO, (AP) -- Elon Tesla's enigmatic personality is emerging as a key exhibit in a trial that revolves around his most polarizing pursuit -- tweeting. The trial was centered around two tweets that announced Musk had received the money to take Tesla private in 2018. Musk, 51, was brought into federal court in San Francisco for three days. This allowed him to give testimony that gave insight into his sometimes cryptic mind. Musk, who now controls the Twitter service he uses as his megaphone was often a contrasts study during his eight-hour stand.
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After Musk's tweet about a Tesla buyout, the CEO of the electric carmaker is now facing a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders. Both his testimony and the evidence presented around it showed that Musk was impetuous, brash and combative. He also seemed contemptuous of anyone who challenged his motives as an entrepreneur who has led to comparisons with Apple's late founder, Steve Jobs. Musk also sounded like the visionary he is, which his supporters praise him for -- an intrepid rebel who has raised over $100 billion from investors according to his own estimations
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His leadership of pioneering companies such as PayPal in digital payments, Tesla for electric vehicles, and SpaceX for rocket ships has rewarded them well. Musk observed wryly that it was relatively easy for him to obtain investment support due to his track record. Musk was confident that he can get the money he needs to pursue his goals is why he ended up in court
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The three-week trial will resume Tuesday with jury deliberations scheduled for Friday. Here's the latest: PLANTING THE SEEDS Evidence has shown that Musk was considering taking Tesla private in 2017. This would allow him to avoid the hassles and distractions of running a publicly traded business. Musk wrote a letter to Tesla's board explaining why he wanted the automaker to be privatized at $420 per share, which is about 20% more than its stock price.
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According to evidence, Musk was serious enough to admit that he had discussed the pros and cons of taking Tesla private with Michael Dell. Dell had been through the public-toprivate transition in 2013, when he managed a $25 billion purchaseout of the personal computer firm bearing his name. THE TROUBLESOME TweetS The core of the case revolves around a tweet Musk sent on Aug. 7, 2018, in which he claimed that he had 'funding secured' for Tesla's privatization.
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After being informed that the Financial Times was about publish a story about Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund spending $2 billion to buy a 5% stake at Tesla, Musk posted the tweet just minutes before boarding his private plane. Musk posted another tweet a few hours later, suggesting that a deal was imminent amid confusion over whether Musk's Twitter account was being hacked or if he was just joking. Musk claimed that the initial tweet was a well-intentioned attempt to inform all Tesla investors that the automaker may be ending its eight-year tenure as a publicly traded company.
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Musk stated that his intention was to do the right things for all shareholders. Guhan Subramanian is a Harvard University law and business professor who was hired to advise shareholder lawyers on Musk's announcement of a possible buyout. He called it an "extreme outlier" fraught with potential conflicts. "The risk is that Mr
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Subramanian testified that Musk announced his (management buyout proposal) in a timely manner to better serve his personal interests than the company's. WHERE IS THE MONEY? Another issue is threatening Musk's defense. Based on Musk's testimony and other evidence, he hadn't secured the financing for his proposal deal. He also didn't know how much was needed to make it happen.
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This is why U.S. District Judge Edward Chen decided last year that Musk’s 2018 tweets were fraudulent and instructed the jury that they be viewed that way. This led to regulators settling with the U.S. for $40 million.
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Securities and Exchange Commission, which also ordered Musk to resign as Tesla's Chairman. Chen ruled that the 2018 settlement in which Musk did not admit wrongdoing, and has since lamented, cannot be mentioned by the jury. Musk stated that he believed he had obtained an oral commitment to pay for any money needed for a Tesla purchaseout at a July 31st, 2018, face-toface meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan (the governor of Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund).
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Deepak Ahuja (the former chief financial officer of Tesla), testified to this and gave al-Rumayyan a tour of the factory for half an hour. Al-Rumayyan's text message to Musk following the tweets about 'funding secured' made it clear that discussions regarding the Saudi fund funding a private purchaseout were only preliminary. According to evidence at the trial, al-Rumayyan wrote Musk: "I would like to hear your plan Elon, and what are the financial calculations for taking it," according to a copy.
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Musk described al-Rumayyan’s text as an attempt by him to renege on his earlier commitment. Musk also claimed that the Saudi fund had made an 'unambiguous commitment' to finance the buyout. MONEYMANAGEMENT Musk attempted to obtain the funds needed for Tesla's buyout through his 2018 tweets. He enlisted the assistance of Egon Durban (CEO of Silver Lake Private Equity), which helped finance the Dell purchaseout in 2013.
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Musk also called Dan Dees, a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, which is an investment banking company that has worked closely with Tesla, to assist him. Durban and Dees both testified about efforts to raise money for Tesla's buyout. This included potential investors including two Chinese companies, Tencent and Alibaba, as well Google. The documents were initially code-named "Project Turbo" and then "Project Titanium." According to documents, the buyout would have required funding of anywhere from $20 billion up to $70 billion. This was mainly because Musk pulled the proposal to privatize Tesla on Aug. 24, 2018, following consultation with shareholders.
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After accounting for two stock splits, Tesla's shares now have eight times the value they had in 2007. Musk maintains that he could have obtained the money he desired and that, even if there were a shortfall in funds, he could have made up any difference by selling SpaceX stock. Musk used this strategy to buy Twitter for $44 billion. However, he only sold $23 billion of Tesla stock.
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Both Durban and Dees testified that they knew the money was available to buy out Tesla -- a sentiment echoed by Antonio Gracias, former Tesla director. Gracias testified that he is the Michael Jordan for fundraising.