Musk faces probe into tweets on taking Tesla private
Tesla confirmed on Tuesday that US Justice Department (DOJ) officials were looking into possible criminal aspects of a seemingly spontaneous, and later aborted, announcement by chief executive Elon Musk on taking the electric automaker private.
Shares skidded as word spread of a criminal investigation triggered by Mr Musk's Twitter comments. Tesla shares ended the Nasdaq trading day down 3.35 per cent to US$284.96 (S$391) .
Tesla said it was confident the matter would be quickly resolved with the Justice Department.
"Last month, following Elon's announcement that he was considering taking the company private, Tesla received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ and has been cooperative in responding to it," the California-based company said.
"We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process."
A lawsuit filed earlier this month accuses Mr Musk of trying to "burn" short-sellers by falsely tweeting that funding had been secured to take the electric carmaker private.
Mr Musk surprised markets on Aug 7 by announcing on Twitter that he wanted to take Tesla private at US$420 a share, causing the stock price to jump. Short-sellers bet on share prices dropping.
Normally such a major announcement - taking a huge company private - would be explained in detail beforehand to regulators.
Mr Musk has since backed off talk of going private, saying the company will continue to be publicly traded.
US market regulators are also scrutinising what happened. - AFP
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