Cars and Drivers

Should Elon Musk Face Even More Scrutiny?

Chris Lange

Published: August 29, 2018 1:15 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 6:38 pm

Elon Musk has been the center of controversy this month, begging the question of whether he should remain in his role as CEO of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA). In the past, Musk has been recognized in his eccentricities and Tesla’s stock has been moved solely on his tweets, but this month has been nothing short of a circus.

This circus began earlier this month when Musk proposed a buyout price of $420 a share, a 20% premium to the stock’s then-current share price. At that price, the buyout cost would total around $72 billion, not including debt.

Later this turned into a discussion of Musk’s sleeping habits and the fact that he spends an inordinate amount of time working. The pressure clearly got to him after what happened next.

In an interview with the New York Times, Musk appeared to cry, though he would later tweet that he did not do so, only that his voice cracked once during the interview.

All this erratic behavior has obviously not gone unnoticed, and Musk may be facing some heavy scrutiny, not just from his investors and board of directors, but potentially regulatory bodies.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) still has yet to acknowledge whether it is investigating Musk because of his tweet to take the company private. Since then, Musk has publicly stated that he plans to keep the company public in the best interest of its investors, but this may not be enough.

Shares of Tesla were last seen down about 2% at $305.00 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $322.38 and a 52-week trading range of $244.59 to $389.61.

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