By Nada Hamouda
On Monday, Tesla Chief Executive, Elon Musk, announced that Saudi Arabia plans to take a big stake in Tesla, the American multinational corporation. A move that reflects the kingdom ambitious plan to build a base in the kingdom for electric-car production and diversify away from oil.
“Going back almost two years, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has approached me multiple times about taking Tesla private,” Musk revealed in an official statement. “Recently, after the Saudi fund bought almost 5% of Tesla stock through the public markets, they reached out to ask for another meeting,” Musk added.
However, the disclosure comes six days after he surprised investors by announcing on Twitter that he was considering taking Tesla private at a price of $420 per share and that funding was “secured”.
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
The Saudi party that approaches Tesla is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
