Deals

Musk Says ‘Funding Secured’ Claim Sparked by Saudi Meeting

Fund first approached CEO in early 2017 on Tesla going private
Bearish analyst sees blog post as retreat from tweet last week

Jeffrey Osborne of Cowen discusses Elon Musk talking to the Saudi Fund about taking Tesla private.Markets: The Open." (Source: Bloomberg)

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By Dana Hull and Gabrielle Coppola

August 13, 2018 at 1:30 PM UTC

Updated on

August 13, 2018 at 6:12 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Elon Musk revealed that Saudi Arabia has long been interested in taking Tesla Inc. private, which gave him the confidence last week to drop the bombshell that he was considering the blockbuster potential deal.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund first approached Musk in early 2017 about taking Tesla off the market, he wrote in a blog post Monday. He confirmed the Public Investment Fund recently bought an almost 5 percent stake and is interested in helping take Tesla private, as Bloomberg News reported Sunday.