1) People asking me what I think about TSLA going private. Thought I’d share here:
2) Many things to work out and sort. This is unprecedented. The private and public equity arms at giant funds are managed by separate people - unclear how easy it would be to transfer shares among existing institutions, or that’s even desirable.
3) Saudis cannot own more than 50% for 2 reasons I see. 1) Change in control likely disallowed by bond covenants and 2) US gov may limit foreign ownership of strategic assets, tho not clear if this is case here.
4) TSLA has been a very successful public company, having tapped the public markets several times since the IPO. TSLA has scaled dramatically, has enjoyed access to capital, and has taken many along for the ride to share in its success. Staying public is not the end of world.
5) Nobody knows how it will play out. The idea and the WHY was presented but now the details, the HOW, have to be figured out by experts one complication at a time — which is a very Tesla-like thing to do.
6) People are saying it can't be done because of legal complications. I ask (sort of jokingly), what do you think has the longer odds of happening? That Elon stops letting himself be baited & bothered by the shorts, or the whole thing goes private?
7) If dealing with the markets is a distraction for CEO & company, then that's the reality you solve for. Everyone says "Elon should XYZ" as in "ignore the shorts" or "just focus on the business" or "stop tweeting." I dunno. I say let Elon be Elon.
8) We all know markets constantly ask, "What have you done for me lately?" It's a flawed system that generally works to allocate capital & manage money. TSLA gets to ask the same thing of the markets. And if downside outweighs upside, then makes sense to go private.
9) TSLA could always go public again if they desired the liquidity or capital, especially since M3 may be the last bet-the-company product. They could nail M3 production & cash flow, service the debt tied to bringing that product to market, and then re-IPO on steadier ground.
10) In light of the latest news, this a really good speech by an SEC Commissioner about the spirit of corporate disclosure. It's about MD&A but applies more broadly. All companies and execs would do well to read it and abide by the philosophies presented: sec.gov/news/speech/20…
11) I do not believe private buy out conversion spurred by fears of bankruptcy. Quite the opposite - Q2 result de-risked that outcome considerably. Highlighted areas suggest positive trend line, esp b/c Q2 doesn’t have full qtr of M3 production AND CapEx spigot can be turned off. 
