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A12 technology
Monday 30 January 2023
Elon Musk’s mysterious ways on display

in Tesla tweet trial

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Elon Musk’s enigmatic per-
sonality and unconvention-
al tactics are emerging as
key exhibits in a trial revolv-
ing around one of his most
polarizing pursuits — tweet-
ing.
The trial, centered on a pair
of tweets announcing Musk
had obtained the money
to take Tesla private in
2018, reeled the 51-year-
old billionaire into a federal Elon Musk leave the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United
courtroom in San Francisco States Court House in San Francisco, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023..
for three days of testimony (AP Photo/ Benjamin Fanjoy)
that opened a peephole rocket ships. to-private transition in 2013
into his often inscrutable “It is relatively easy for me when he led a $25 billion
mind. to get investment support buyout of the personal
Musk, who now owns the because my track record computer company bear-
Twitter service that he de- is extremely good,” Musk ing his name, according to
ploys as his megaphone, wryly observed. trial evidence.
was often a study in con- But his confidence in his THE TROUBLESOME TWEETS
trasts during his roughly ability to get the money he The crux of the case hing-
eight hours on the stand. wants to pursue his plans es on an Aug. 7, 2018,
The CEO of the electric is one reason he found tweet in which Musk de-
carmaker is facing a class- himself in court. The three- clared “funding secured”
action lawsuit filed on be- week trial is set to resume to take Tesla private. Musk
half of Tesla shareholders Tuesday and head for jury abruptly posted the tweet
after Musk tweeted about deliberations by Friday. minutes before boarding
a company buyout that PLANTING THE SEEDS his private jet after being
didn’t happen. Evidence and testimony alerted that the Financial
Through both his testimony have shown Musk had Times was about to publish
and the evidence submit- started to mull taking Tes- a story that Saudi Arabia’s
ted around it, Musk came la private in 2017 so he Public Investment Fund
across as impetuous, brash, wouldn’t have to hassle had spent about $2 billion
combative and contemp- with the headaches and buying a 5% stake in Tesla
tuous of anyone who ques- distractions that accom- to diversify its interests be-
tioned his motives as a pany running a publicly yond oil, according to his
game-changing entrepre- traded company. testimony.
neur who has inspired com- After a July 31, 2018, meet- Amid widespread confu-
parisons to Apple’s late co- ing with a top representa- sion about whether Musk’s
founder, Steve Jobs. tive from Saudi Arabia’s Twitter account had been
At other times, Musk sound- sovereign wealth fund, hacked or he was joking,
ed like the savvy visionary Musk sent a letter to Tesla’s Musk followed up a few
that his supporters hail him board outlining why he hours later with another
to be — an intrepid rebel wanted to take the auto- tweet suggesting a deal
who by his own estimates maker private at a price was imminent.
has raised more than $100 of $420 per share — about Musk defended the initial
billion from investors. They 20% above its stock price at tweet as a well-intentioned
have been richly reward- the time. move to ensure all Tesla in-
ed from his leadership of Musk was serious enough vestors knew the automak-
pioneering companies that that he had already dis- er might be on its way to
include PayPal in digital cussed the pros and cons ending its then-eight-year
payments, Tesla in electric with Michael Dell, who had run as a publicly held com-
vehicles and SpaceX in gone through the public- pany.
“I had no ill motive,” Musk
testified. “My intent was
to do the right thing for all
shareholders.”
Guhan Subramanian, a
Harvard University business
and law professor hired as
an expert for shareholder
lawyers, derided Musk’s
method for announcing a
potential buyout as an “ex-
treme outlier” fraught with
potential conflicts.q