Liam Denning, Columnist

Tesla's Stock Sale Is So Right But Feels So Wrong

It makes sense after a parabolic rise, but undercuts the electric-car maker’s self-funding story.

February 13, 2020 at 4:22 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

Time to refill the (cash) tank.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe

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If it involves a flurry of announcements, filings, subpoena disclosures, a stock with Lebowski levels of insouciance, a surprise equity raise and Larry Ellison backing up the truck, then we must be talking about Tesla.

It’s been a busy Thursday morning for the electric-vehicle phenomenon. Not long after Tesla Inc. filed its 10-K annual report, the company announced it would sell up to $2.3 billion worth of new equity, with CEO Elon Musk and director Ellison indicating their “preliminary interest” in buying $10 million and $1 million worth, respectively.