One year later

7 Aug 2019 By Antony Currie Follow @AntonyMCurrie

CEO Elon Musk was upbraided for tweeting he had “funding secured” to take the carmaker private 12 months ago. Tesla now trades at barely half his mooted price, loses money and struggles to sustain growth. It’s no LBO candidate, but a dose of buyout discipline wouldn’t go amiss.

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Tesla shares were trading a little below $232 on Aug. 7, down nearly 39% from the level of exactly one year ago, when Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted that he was “considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.”

Almost two months later the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Musk, arguing he had made “false and misleading statements” about the prospects of a deal, which failed to materialize.

To settle the case, Musk agreed to step down as chairman for at least three years, submit his tweets to be reviewed by Tesla before being published and pay a $20 million fine. Tesla also had to pay the same amount as well as add two independent directors to its board.

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