NTB/Carina Johansen via REUTERS
- Elon Musk said his “extremely good” track record made getting investment support easy, per AP.
- Musk said he had “no ill motive” by tweeting his “funding secured” tweet in 2018, AP reported.
- An ex-Tesla director described Musk in court as “the Michael Jordan of fundraising,” it added.
Elon Musk said it’s quite easy for him to get investors’ support because of his successful track record in the past, AP reported.
During a trial over accusations that Musk committed securities fraud, he said: “It is relatively easy for me to get investment support because my track record is extremely good,” per AP.
It appeared Musk was referring to the success of his various companies, including Tesla, his electric carmaker; SpaceX, his aerospace company; and PayPal, the digital payment firm that he was involved with, AP reported.
SpaceX told prospective investors it plans to raise $750 million in a new round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, CNBC reported in January. SpaceX was eyeing a valuation of $137 billion, the report said.
Meanwhile, Musk said in an earnings call on Wednesday he was certain that “Tesla will be the most valuable company on earth.” Tesla has a market capitalization of around $560 billion, per MarketWatch.
However, Musk’s self-assurance about securing financial support has landed him in court, per AP.
Musk is testifying in a trial over accusations that he illegally manipulated Tesla’s stock price by tweeting in 2018 that he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 a share. But the deal never went through.
Recently in court, Musk testified that he had “no ill motive” and his “intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders,” AP reported.
Musk said in court on January 24 he could have sold enough SpaceX stock to fund a Tesla buyout.
“I sold Tesla stock to complete the Twitter transaction. And I would have done the same here,” Musk said, as reported by CNBC.
Former Tesla director Antonio Gracias, recently testified that Musk was “the Michael Jordan of fundraising,” in reference to him potentially being able to fund a buyout, AP reported.
