INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Joel Rosenblatt and Dana HullElon Musk and Tesla Inc
private and that funding was secure.
Musk lied about funding so he could push shares higher and ambush short sellers betting against the
company, according to the shareholder complaint, which was filed Friday as a securities-fraud class action in federal court in San
Francisco.
Musk set off a firestorm with the 53-character post Aug
Then it fell back, losing about 7 per cent over two days, as doubts mounted about the feasibility of the going-private idea -- and about
stock were forced to cover their positions by purchasing shares at artificially inflated prices after 12:48pm on August 7, 2018
according to people familiar with the matter.
SEC enforcement attorneys in the San Francisco office were already gathering general
because the review is private.
Other investors have begun to file lawsuits as well
Eventually, the cases will be consolidated and go before a single judge.
Buying out shareholders at the price Musk quoted -- almost 25 per
cent above where the stock was trading at the time of his initial tweet -- would make the deal worth $82 billion
in San Francisco said investors may have a viable claim against Tesla.
"Shareholders could potentially be misled if the statement omits
Anybody who purchased the stock on that news, if the news was in fact misleading, could have a claim, however, it would be very short class
period."
Musk has a history of setting aggressive sales targets that critics have called unrealistic
from being able to raise more capital.
Musk had raised the go-private possibility with the board last week, according to a statement from
Musk, 18-cv-04865, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
