Tesla's board says Musk started go-private talks last week

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk started talks with the company’s board last week about taking the electric car maker private, some board members said on Wednesday.

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, founder, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla, speaks at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo

“This included discussion as to how being private could better serve Tesla’s long-term interests, and also addressed the funding for this to occur,” the board members said.

Musk on Tuesday tweeted that he was considering taking the loss-making company private at $420 a share.

The board members said they had met several times last week with Musk and were evaluating the next steps.

The statement came from six board members, including James Murdoch, chief executive officer of Twenty First Century Fox and Brad Buss, who served as SolarCity’s Chief Financial Officer till 2016.

Other board members mentioned in the statement included Robyn Denholm, Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias and Linda Johnson Rice. Tesla has nine board members, which also includes Musk, his brother Kimbal Musk, and venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson.

Several Wall Street analysts were skeptical about Musk’s ability to gather enough financial backing to complete the deal. But some said a deal could materialize if Musk succeeded in lining up the right funding.

Tesla’s shares were down 3 percent in early trading after closing up 11 percent at $379.57 on Tuesday.

Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty

(Original source)