The tweet said Tesla would offer US$420 ($628.55) per share, 23 per cent above the August 6 closing price. If all the shares were bought, the deal would be worth US$72 billion, but Musk later said he expected only one-third of stakeholders to agree to the buyout.
The bizarre tweet, written while Musk was driving to the airport, brought an inquiry from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which reportedly is looking into whether he was trying to manipulate the share price. It since has fallen.
In the statement, Musk said he worked with investment firms Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Silver Lake to consider all the options, and he talked to investors.
"Given the feedback I've received, it's apparent that most of Tesla's existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company," Musk wrote in the statement.
He wrote that his belief that there was more than enough funding to take the company private "was reinforced during this process."
- AP
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