Elon Musk tweets that he might take Tesla private, sending shares into a tizzy
Elon Musk riled up the stock market on Tuesday, tweeting that he was thinking of taking Tesla private at $420 per share, "funding secured."
Shares of the electric car company skyrocketed 7.4 percent as the CEO's message sunk in, CNBC reports. Then trading was brought to a halt.
Tesla's shares had already spiked Tuesday thanks to reports of new investment in the company, per CNBC. The post-tweet frenzy sent shares as high as $371.15, and trading was eventually halted at $367 per share.
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Musk soon tweeted again to sort of clear up the situation, saying shareholders could either sell at $420 or hold their shares as Tesla went private. He hopes all current investors stay with Tesla even if it goes private, Musk tweeted, but "will ensure their prosperity in any scenario."
Musk recently hinted at a rejection of Wall Street, saying Tesla "would not be raising equity at any point" during a call to analysts Wednesday, per the Los Angeles Times. Tesla is worth $61 billion, and going private at $420 per share would lock the company's valuation at $71.3 billion. Musk expects the company to be profitable in 2018's third quarter, despite reporting a record loss of $718 million in the second quarter last week.
