Musk Still Rues Tesla Being Public, Though the ‘Ship Has Sailed’
Elon Musk called Tesla’s stock price “manic depressive” and said he still wishes the company were no longer public.
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk, whose efforts to take Tesla Inc. private ended with the U.S. bringing fraud charges, called the electric-car maker’s stock price “manic depressive” and said he still wishes the company were no longer public.
“I would prefer we were private, but unfortunately I think the ship, that ship, has sailed,” Musk said Wednesday on an earnings call, after Tesla reported a bigger-than-expected loss.
Tesla shares were little changed as of 6:40 p.m. in New York, after the close of regular trading. Earlier in the post-market session, the stock fell as much as 3.1 percent and rose as much as 2.8 percent.
Musk, 47, settled a securities fraud lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year without admitting wrongdoing. He agreed to relinquish the chairman role for three years and pay a $20 million penalty.
--With assistance from Ed Ludlow and Dana Hull.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Welch in Southfield at dwelch12@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Chester Dawson
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