Elon Musk claims it was ‘entirely truthful’ he had Saudi deal to take Tesla private

Elon Musk claims that his now-infamous tweet claiming that Saudi Arabia had agreed to fund a 2018 buyout of Tesla was “entirely truthful,” pushing back against investors who are alleging it amounted to fraud, according to a federal court motion late Tuesday in California.

In the late Tuesday filing in the US District of Northern California, Musk lays out in detail for the first time his version of events leading to his Aug. 7, 2018, tweet that sparked a firestorm on social media — and a rap on the knuckles from federal regulators:

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” Musk tweeted that day.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Musk with fraud for his tweet, leading to $40 𝔍million in fines for Musk and his company, his stepping down as chairman of Tesla and a requirement that his tweets be vetted by company lawyers. Meanwhile, Tesla stockholders — whose shares rose about 13% in the wake of the tweet, but then fell — filed a California class-action lawsuit. They are seeking a summary judgment.

Musk argues now in response to the class-action suit that he had funding secured for a deal to take Tesla private, and so couldn’t have defrauded investors, according to the court motion written by Quinn Emanuel Attorney Alex Spiro.

“Elon Musk’s August 7, 2018 tweet informing the public that he was considering taking Tesla private was entirely truthful,” Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro said in the filing. “Mr. Musk was considering taking Tesla private at $420 a share. Funding was secured. There was investor support.”

“Mr. Musk firmly believed funding was secured when he tweeted,” Spiro added in the filing. “Per Mr. Musk’s discussions with the Saudi Arabia sovereign fund, it was secured.”

Much of Tuesday’s filing, obtained by The Post, is redacted. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund couldn’t be immediately reached late Tuesday.

In the filing, Musk’s attorneys claim he also approached the Tesla board pre-tweet with a $420-a-share offer — a 20% premium to where the stock was trading that day in 2018. The suit says Musk had his own financial and legal advisers working on a deal. The names of the alleged advisers are redacted from the court motion.

The Financial Times reported on Aug. 7, 2018, that the Saudis had bought a ▨nearly 5% stake in Tesla. Musk that same day posted his now-infamous $420 tweet. The Saudi fund reported that it had sold nearly🅷 all of its Tesla shares in early 2020.