Tesla to stay public, says Elon Musk

Saudi-backed Tesla will remain publicly listed, chief executive Elon Musk said, after revealing earlier this month that he was considering taking the electric carmaker private at a $420 share price.

“Given the feedback I’ve received, it’s apparent that most of Tesla’s existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company. Additionally, a number of institutional shareholders have explained that they have internal compliance issues that limit how much they can invest in a private company,” Musk said in a blog post on Saturday.

The CEO also noted that there was “no proven path” for most retail investors to own shares in the company if it went private.

“I knew the process of going private would be challenging, but it’s clear that it would be even more time-consuming and distracting than initially anticipated,” Musk said, noting however that he still believes there is “more than enough funding” to go private.

In early August, Tesla’s shares soared after Musk tweeted he was considering taking the company private, in what would have been a $72 billion buyout. Musk cited wild swings in stock prices that could be a “major distraction,” as well as greater investor scrutiny that would pressurize the company to focus on short-term decisions.

Musk later went on to say that he had support from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to go private, in what would have been a $72 billion deal. The fund is said to have earlier purchased a nearly 5 percent stake in the carmaker.