Elon Musk tells jury buying Tesla at $420 a share was no joke

On Monday, Elon Musk stated to jurors that his tweet from 2018 about taking Tesla private at $420 per share was not a joke and that the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund was genuinely interested in assisting him with the process.

The CEO of Tesla testified again to respond to questions from legal representatives of investors who claim he caused them significant financial losses through a pair of tweets that they argue were falsely stating that he had secured the funding to buy them out.

One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs emphasized on Musk’s choice of the buyout figure of $420, a number that is also commonly associated with the promotion of marijuana and that Musk frequently uses.

Musk clarified that the reason for choosing the number 420 in his tweet was not for comedic purposes, but rather because there was a 20% increase in the stock price. He acknowledged that there may be some sort of connection to the number 420, but he questioned whether it was positive or negative.

The situation at hand refers to two tweets in which Musk stated that he had secured funding and received confirmation of investor support for a project to purchase the publicly-traded electric car company.

Read more: Elon Musk: Tweets about taking Tesla private weren’t fraud

The tweets sent the Tesla share price on a rollercoaster ride and Musk was sued by shareholders who say the tycoon acted recklessly in an effort to squeeze investors who had bet, or “gone short,” against the company.

Musk referred to short sellers as “evil” at the trial.

“It’s difficult to appreciate just now just how much attack Tesla was under by short sellers who wanted Tesla to die,” Musk told jurors. – ‘Done deal’–

Musk stated that he sent the tweets in question after becoming aware of a Financial Times article reporting that a Saudi Arabian investment fund was seeking to acquire a stake in Tesla. He explained that his concern was that if the fund had access to this information, they may also have knowledge of his plans to take the company private.

Musk testified that the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund was fully supportive of his project and that the head of the fund informed him that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was also in agreement.

“So essentially I took that to mean it was a done deal,” Musk said.

Upon being presented with communications from the Saudi fund indicating their desire for additional information before committing to his buyout proposal, Musk stated that the fund was “backpedalling.”

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He testified that he believed the fund had the capability and resources to assist in taking Tesla private, and further stated that even without their involvement, he had the financial means to do so through his personal wealth and shares in SpaceX, the company he also runs.

Musk also mentioned that he had shared some details of his plan with tech billionaire and Tesla investor Larry Ellison, who is set to testify in the fraud trial.

Last week, a Harvard professor testified on behalf of the plaintiffs and stated that Elon Musk’s plans were unrealistic and vastly different from typical mega-deal procedures.

However, during opening statements, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, argued that while the tweets may have been poorly worded, they were not fraudulent in nature. On Monday, Musk himself stated that the accusations of fraud against him were outrageous. The tycoon’s testimony is expected to end on Tuesday.