ON SECOND THOUGHT

Elon Musk Drops Plans to Take Tesla Private

After investors pushed back and pleaded 'please don’t do this.'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he’s decided to drop plans to take the electric car-maker private after receiving feedback from investors. “Given the feedback I’ve received, it’s apparent that most of Tesla’s existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company. … Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was ‘please don’t do this,’” Musk said in a late-night statement. “I knew the process of going private would be challenging, but it’s clear that it would be even more time-consuming and distracting than initially anticipated,” he said. Musk made waves—and sent Tesla shares soaring—earlier this month when he announced on Twitter that funding had already been secured to take the company private. The tweet reportedly sparked an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is thought to be looking into whether the announcement was intended to manipulate share prices.