Trading of Tesla Stock Halted After Apparent Tweet From Musk About Taking Tesla Private - No Word From Musk Confirming or Denying Validity

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After tweets appeared on Elon Musk's twitter account about possibly taking the company private, confusion ensues. Trading halted.

A tweet seemingly from Elon Musk that appeared on twitter today about his possibly taking the company private resulted in trading of Tesla, Inc. stock being halted on the NASDAQ. Musk indicated that the buyout price would be set at $420 per share. The stock had begun the day at $344. One year ago, the stock was trading at about $355.

At the time of this Torque News story publication, media outlets had not been able to get a confirmation of the plan or the tweet's validity directly from Tesla, Elon Musk, or the SEC. We suspect the mystery will soon be clarified. The string of tweets happened mid-day. Here is what the account looked like at approximately 2:30 pm EST.

Why Musk would use twitter to announce this move is unclear. Although not against Securities and Exchange Commission rules to use social media to announce important investor information, it is almost never done. There are rules that prohibit announcements that are not fact-based and that can move a stock's price.

Some have speculated that the "420" reference tips this off as a joke. The numbers are often used to refer to marijuana in some way. Leading up to the possible announcement there was no indication of the coming tweets on the financial aspects of Tesla. Musk had been tweeting and retweeting on his normal topics as of the prior day. It did appear odd that there were no tweets for some number of hours prior to the financial tweets.

Media with a focus on financial topics are reporting that if Musk did take the company private, and purchased all outstanding stock at $420, it would be the largest move of its kind.

Related Story: Will Elon Musk's Latest Controversy Be a Tipping Point, or Are We In For More Crazy From Tesla's CEO?

Tesla, Inc. Fast Facts:
Tesla is a holding company that has divisions that manufacture, deliver, and service electric automobiles, solar power systems for residences and commercial applications, and energy storage solutions related to solar power. Elon Musk is the company's CEO. Tesla Motors was previously rolled into Tesla, Inc. Elon Musk was not an original founder of the automobile company.

Test Your Knowledge! Play Our Tesla Trivia Game Here

Still image courtesy of Tesla's Youtube channel.

Submitted by DeanMcManis (not verified) on August 8, 2018 - 7:29PM

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It could be a smart move, keeping Tesla haters from profiting at the companies' expense by sending out bad press, and selling their stock short.

Submitted by Tom (not verified) on August 9, 2018 - 11:55PM

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MUSK is a bit of a loose cannon,As the CEO,He has been misleading investors for couple years now. He isn't honest with his production numbers. and His tweet is not appropriate. Companies must file 10k forms with the SEC with this sort of news.
ANY big news in the company that will effect the stock ( like being halted or selling at $420/share) has to be disclosed through a10K form its the law for publicly traded companies.