According to newly leaked text conversations, Elon Musk was enraged at the head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for failing to support his plan to take Tesla private in 2018, screaming that he was being "thrown under the bus."
On August 12, 2018, Musk wrote to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), saying, "I am profoundly insulted." The conversations were exchanged only days after Musk stunned the financial world by tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 per share, with the words "financing secured."
Tesla shareholders filed a lawsuit after Musk's now-famous tweet, alleging that Musk lied about having the funds needed to delist Tesla from the stock exchange and take it private. A series of texts between Musk, shareholders, board members, and other relevant parties were recently released in a court filing as part of the litigation.
"THIS IS AN EXTREMELY WEAK STATEMENT," says the author.
Musk's texts with Al-Rumayyan are notable for their aggressiveness. News reports saying that PIF has "shown no interest" in helping Tesla go private infuriated the billionaire CEO, who claimed that Saudi authorities had informed him otherwise. Musk shouted that the news articles were "fake" and "outrageous."
"This is a really poor statement that does not reflect the dialogue we had at Tesla," Musk said in one of the conversations, referencing a Bloomberg report. "You stated that you were serious about taking Tesla private and that you had wanted to do so since 2016." You also made it obvious that you were the decision-maker, and that you had the support of the Crown Prince, who saw this as a national strategic priority."
"I'm sorry, but we can't work together," he continued.
Al-Rumayyan answered, "It's up to you Elon."
Musk responded, "You're throwing me under the bus."
"It takes two to tango," Al-Rumayyan said, adding that PIF had yet to receive financial details on Musk's desire to take Tesla private from his team. The governor of the PIF stated that the fund would be unable to proceed with its negotiations with Tesla without "adequate information."
Musk chastised Al-Rumayyan for claiming to require more information than Tesla has already provided in its regulatory filings. "Yasir, when we met recently at Tesla, you indicated that you were the decision-maker for PIF, that you had wanted to conduct the Tesla takeprivate transaction for two years, and that this was directly endorsed by the Crown Prince," he texted. I double-checked with the rest of my team at the meeting to make sure I didn't forget anything, and they all agreed."
"You are incredibly financially savvy and are well-aware of what a go-private would involve, which is that there would need to be at least a 20% premium to market in order to buy out any shareholders who do not want to stay part of the firm after it is private," he said. All of this is routine procedure. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"There are a lot of other investment funds who want to be a part of this," Musk added. "We don't need your money to finish this." I will not collaborate with a company whose public claims to the media contradict their private declarations to me and my staff."
Al-Rumayyan reaffirmed the need for further information before continuing negotiations, while denying that anybody from PIF had "gone to the media." Musk, on the other hand, could not be persuaded to back down.
"I finished reading the article. Musk snarled, "It's weak sauce that still makes me seem like a liar." "It's riddled with ambiguity and bears little resemblance to the genuine enthusiasm you expressed in person."
Musk refused to continue the conversation in private, despite Al-insistence. Rumayyan's He wrote, "I'm sorry, but there will be no more communication unless you correct the public impression of PIF's wishy-washy support and interest." "You did not say it to me or my team in private." A friend is either one or the other, and no friend ever says one thing personally and another publicly. This is not acceptable."
Musk's tweet about taking Tesla private sparked an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which concluded that, while he had met with PIF, Musk "had never discussed a going-private transaction at $420 per share with any potential funding source, had done nothing to investigate whether it would be possible for all current investors to remain with Tesla as a private company via a'special purpose fund,' and had not connived with any potential funding source." The SEC is presently in court with Musk over the investigation's findings.
Musk eventually dropped his intention to take Tesla private, claiming that it was detracting from the company's attempts to mass-produce the Model 3 electric automobile. Musk also stated that his decision-making process confirmed his opinion that "there is more than enough financing to take Tesla private."
A flurry of other exchanges are included in the petition, including texts made by Musk to Google co-founder Larry Page. "Just called," Musk texted Page two days after his "financing secured" post. By the way, my name is Elon. I'm not sure if you've received my new phone number."
"Nope, didn't have it...I'm on the road." "Wonderful block 5!" Page responded with a yes.
“Thanks!” "Wanna invest in Tesla?" Musk said, before adding, "Wanna invest in Tesla?"