Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he is considering taking the electric car maker private.
Shares of Tesla were halted in afternoon trading on Tuesday after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he’s considering taking the electric car company private at $420 a share.
Musk said the take-private transaction has received investor support and now rests on a shareholder vote in order for it to become official.
In a letter to employees, Musk stressed that ‘a final decision has not yet been made,’ but that going private would create an environment for ‘Tesla to operate best.’
The initial announcement sent Tesla’s stock surging 6.8 percent to $365.36 – adding $900 million to Musk’s fortune in the process.
The stock was halted at $367 a share shortly after 2 p.m. (ET), as some grew concerned that Musk’s tweets were an attempt at market manipulation.
Shares resumed trading shortly before 4 p.m. (ET) and were climbing more than 11 percent to $379.89 .
The tweets are the latest example of a long string of bizarre outbursts from the billionaire tech mogul.

The take-private announcement from Musk caused the company’s stock to surge close to 7 percent to $365.36 just after 2pm ET – adding $900 million to Musk’s fortune in the process
Tesla’s stock was halted at $367 a share shortly after 2 p.m. (ET), as some grew concerned that Musk’s tweets were an attempt at market manipulation. Shares resumed trading shortly before 4 p.m. and were climbing more than 11 percent to $379.89. A live chart of Tesla’s stock is shown
Musk made the out-of-the-blue announcement in a series of tweets, saying he’d already secured funding for the take-private transaction.
‘Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,’ Musk tweeted, following up with ‘good morning’ and a smiley emoji.
At $420 a share, that means Musk would have to buy back Tesla at the whopping price of $82 billion, in what would likely be one of the largest take-private transactions in history.
He shared more details in a series of Twitter replies, noting that should Tesla go private, he’d remain in his role as founder and CEO of Tesla.
For current shareholders, Musk said he would institute a provision so that their stock is converted into private shares, adding he would ‘ensure their prosperity in any scenario.’


His tweet came hours after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had bought a $2 billion stake in Tesla Inc.
However, it’s unclear if that was the funding Musk was referring to.
The Financial Times, citing unnamed people with direct knowledge of the matter, said Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had built a stake of between 3 and 5 percent of Telsa’s shares.
The Saudi fund initially wanted to purchase newly issued shares of Tesla, but ultimately bought the shares in secondary markets.
Tesla did not immediate respond to requests for comment.

It’s highly unusual for the head of a major company make a significant announcement in such casual manner.
The tweet prompted questions about how serious Musk’s intentions were.
Some questioned whether Musk violated rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
However, there are provisions in SEC rules that allow for certain material announcements to be made on social media platforms.
So far, the SEC has declined to comment on the matter, but experts say it could be fuel for a potential investigation later on down the line.
‘If his comments were issued for the purpose of moving the price of the stock, that could be manipulation, it could also be securities fraud,’ former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt told CNBC.
‘The use of a specific price for a potential going private transaction is highly unprecedented and therefore raises significant questions about what his intent was. So, that would have to be investigated.’
His asking price of $420 would be 22 percent of Monday’s closing share price, and nearly 9 percent above the stock’s all-time closing high of $385.
Musk even drew some jokes on Twitter about whether it was a pot reference, with 420 being a common slang term for marijuana.


Later Tuesday afternoon, Musk asserted that the take-private transaction would particularly hurt short sellers – a group the CEO has been warring with for years.
Short sellers are investors who borrow stock in a company with the hope that the shares will fall, so that they can buy them back at a lower price and make a profit.
‘Def no forced sales. Hope all shareholders remain. Will be way smoother & less disruptive as a private company,’ Musk said in a tweet.
‘Ends negative propaganda from shorts.’
The tweets have already cost short-sellers more than $800 million in mark-to-market losses, according to CNBC.
Musk’s tweet came two weeks after Tesla revealed it had burned through $739.5 million in cash on its way to a record $717.5 million net loss in the second quarter, as it cranked out more electric cars.
Tesla has spent millions as it reached a goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 sedans per week by the end of June.
The company says production is rising, with the goal of 6,000 per week by the end of August.
Musk pledged earlier this month to post net profits in future quarters, and he said he expects the company to avoid returning to the markets for capital and to be self-funding going forward.
In the letter describing taking Tesla private, Musk explained that doing so would shield the company from much of the scrutiny of the public markets.
‘As a public company, we are subject to wild swings in our stock price that can be a major distraction for everyone working at Tesla, all of whom are shareholders,’ Musk wrote.
It also puts ‘enormous pressure on Tesla to make decisions that may be right for a given quarter, but not necessarily right for the long-term,’ he added.
Musk’s abrasive style has often been a source of friction with Wall Street. Earlier this year, he caused a stir during a first quarter earnings call when he angrily cut off two analysts whose questions annoyed him.
The CEO apologized to those analysts during the second quarter call.
Musk’s other company, aerospace firm SpaceX, is privately owned.