Tesla shares soar on possibility Elon Musk will take the car maker private
The leap after Musk's tweets and blog comments added to an earlier rally after the Financial Times reported Saudi Arabia had built a 3%-5% stake
New York — Tesla shares soared on Tuesday after controversial Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he was considering taking the company private. The shares surged 11% to $379.57 at the closing bell, as the market anticipated a big premium. They were suspended for about 90 minutes following a series of Musk statements on Twitter in which he initially floated the idea of going private. Going private would take the electric car maker out of the quarterly reporting cycle, making it “free from as much distraction and short-term thinking as possible”, Musk said in a blog post. Musk, who has depicted the quest to build up electric cars as a crucial environmental and economic objective, said he viewed going public as “the best path forward”, but a final decision had not been made and the decision ultimately depended on shareholder support. Musk’s first tweet said funding was “secured” for a transaction could value the company at $420 per share. Tuesday’s gains following the tweet added to upward movem...
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