Will Tesla go private?

Co-founder and CEO Elon Musk says the stockmarket doesn’t suit the carmaker and he has the cash to buy it out. Alice Gråhns reports.

909-Musk-2-634

Elon Musk should go private not Tesla
(Image credit: Copyright (c) 2018 Shutterstock. No use without permission.)

"Elon Musk, after hate-tweeting journalists and short-sellers, shunning analysts and disparaging rescue workers, seems to have found a new No. 1 enemy: public markets," says Stephen Gandel on Bloomberg. Last week he tweeted that he wanted to take Tesla private at $420 a share, and that he had already secured the funding to do so. He claimed private markets have become more hospitable to larger firms that are still growing strongly, while public markets force companies into short-term thinking. Musk's tweet sent Tesla's shares rocketing 11% to around $380, their all-time high.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

Alice grew up in Stockholm and studied at the University of the Arts London, where she gained a first-class BA in Journalism. She has written for several publications in Stockholm and London, and joined MoneyWeek in 2017.