Musk says meetings with Saudis preceded tweet on taking Tesla private

In this Feb. 6, 2018, file photo, Elon Musk, founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX, speaks at a news conference after the Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Musk's quirky behavior has long been chalked up to that of a misunderstood genius. But never have his actions caused so much angst on Wall Street. Investors have for years endured millions of dollars in short-term losses in hopes of a long-term payoff. They might have even been able to stomach the $8.3 million that Telsa Inc. burns through each day. But it was a conference call Wednesday, May 2, that left many wondering how much more they can take. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) In this Feb. 6, 2018, file photo, Elon Musk, founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX, speaks at a news conference after the Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Musk's quirky behavior has long been chalked up to that of a misunderstood genius. But never have his actions caused so much angst on Wall Street. Investors have for years endured millions of dollars in short-term losses in hopes of a long-term payoff. They might have even been able to stomach the $8.3 million that Telsa Inc. burns through each day. But it was a conference call Wednesday, May 2, that left many wondering how much more they can take. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

By Tiffany Hsu / New York Times August 13, 2018 3 min read

Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, said Monday that he had held meetings with representatives of a Saudi sovereign wealth fund who expressed an eagerness to help him take the electric carmaker private.

Writing in a post on Tesla’s corporate blog, Musk offered his fullest explanation yet for what he said were the circumstances behind his Aug. 7 message on Twitter that he was “considering taking Tesla private at $420” and had “funding secured.” The post sent Wall Street scrambling for more information.

In the blog post, Musk said the Saudi fund had approached him several times about taking the company private as part of the country’s efforts to diversify its economy beyond oil.

Musk said that after several meetings that began in early 2017, he had left talks with the fund’s managing director July 31 “with no question” that a deal could be closed and “that it was just a matter of getting the process moving.”

“I understood from him that no other decision makers were needed and that they were eager to proceed,” Musk wrote. He added that he had stayed in contact with representatives of the Saudi fund, which he said had recently bought a stake of almost 5 percent in Tesla, and has also been in touch with other investors.