Tesla chief Elon Musk is questioned by the investors’ attorney, Mr Nicholas Porritt, before Judge Edward Chen, in an artist’s sketch, on Jan 23, 2023.SAN FRANCISCO - Elon Musk told jurors on Monday he was sure he had locked up financial support from Saudi investors in 2018 to take his electric car maker Tesla Inc private, and could even have used his stake in rocket company SpaceX to fund a buyout.
Musk is defending against claims that he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug 7, 2018, that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that "investor support is confirmed." He acknowledged that a takeover price was not discussed, but said the Saudi representatives made clear they would do what it took to make a buyout happen.
Musk later testified that he would have sold his stake in SpaceX to fund the go-private deal, as he sold part of his Tesla stake to help fund his bid to take Twitter private last year.Musk to jury: Just because I tweet something, doesn't mean people believe itA jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company's share price by touting the buyout's prospects, and if so by how much.