Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com
Elon Musk was interviewed on Thursday by Chris Anderson during TED Talks in Vancouver, Canada. On the day that Musk confirmed its intention to buy Twitter and turn it private (keeping the largest number of shareholders it is possible by law), Tesla’s CEO talked about Tesla, SEC, and Twitter.
When asked about the existance of a Plan B if Twitter Board doesn’t accept his offer of $54.20 per share, Musk said: “There is”. Also regarding Twitter, Elon replied: “I’m not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it. And I should also say, the intent is to retain as many shareholders as is allowed by the law. I could technically afford it”.
“My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don’t care about the economics at all.”
Regarding the plan to take Tesla private, Musk said: “I was forced to concede to the SEC, unlawfully. I was forced to admit that I lied to save Tesla’s life, and that’s the only reason.”
“With Tesla back in the day, the funding was actually secured. I wanna be clear about that. In fact, this may be a good opportunity to clarify that. Funding was indeed secured. And I should say why I do not have respect for the SEC in that situation, and I don’t mean to blame everyone at the SEC but certainly the San Francisco office. It’s because the SEC knew that funding was secured, but they pursued an act of public investigation nonetheless. At the time, Tesla was in a precarious financial situation, and I was told by the banks that if I did not agree to settle with the SEC, they [the banks] would cease providing working capital and Tesla would go bankrupt immediately. So, that’s like having a gun to your child’s head. I was forced to concede to the SEC unlawfully, those bastards, and now they made it look like I lied when I did not in fact lie. I was forced to admit that I lied to save Tesla’s life, and that’s the only reason.”
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com