Musk: The Saudis supported the conversion of Tesla into a private company and then retreated

Musk: The Saudis supported the conversion of

Tesla into a private company and then retreated

Tesla founder Elon Musk said in court that he was convinced Saudi investors were supporting Tesla's conversion to a private company in 2018, but later retreated.

Musk confirmed during a federal court hearing in

San Francisco on Monday that he had met on 31 July 2018 with representatives of the Saudi Public Investment Fund at a Tesla factory in Fremont, California.

He acknowledged that he had not discussed the acquisition price with the Saudis

but stated that they would make every effort necessary to achieve the acquisition.

• In his statement, Musk said that

• the Public Investment Fund was clear in its desire to

• turn Tesla into a private company.

He added that the Governor of the Saudi Fund Yasser Al-Rumayyan had reversed the commitment to make Tesla special later.

Musk said:

I was very disappointed that he was clear about his support

for making Tesla a private company when we met and then he seemed to back down.

Musk's remarks were not immediately commented upon

by the Al-Qumayan Group of Lawyers.

The investor lawyer told the court that Musk's allegations

about the Saudi fund's commitment to any commitments were not supported by any document, and that the meeting between the Saudis and Musk showed that the Saudi side wished to learn more about Musk's plan.

Elon Musk is facing a lawsuit accusing him of investor fraud

when he wrote on Twitter on August 7, 2018, that he had "secured financing" to make Tesla a private company with $420 per share

and that "investor support is certain."

• Investors say they lost millions of dollars to Musk's tweets

• as Tesla's share price rose following Musk's tweets

• and then fell when it became clear that the acquisition deal evaporated.

Before the court, Musk maintains that his tweet did not

"speak to the inevitability of the event but I believe that", adding that it was his personal view that financing for the transaction was guaranteed.

In 2018

• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla announced

• On Twitter he is considering making the company private

• He has received funding to do so.

He later stated that :

• the financing came from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund

• but the deal failed and the company remained public.

• In 2019, the SEC accused Musk of defrauding tweets

alleged that he did not actually secure financing and misled investors.

The case was settled

as Musk agreed to pay a fine and step down as the company's chairman

but remained CEO.