In court, Elon Musk doubles down on 'driving factor' behind Tesla 'funding secured' tweet

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk testified on Monday that concern over a pending news report was “the driving factor” behind his decision to post a series of 2018 tweets at the heart of a class-action lawsuit brought by Tesla stockholders.

The testimony, and other statements from Musk on his second day of questioning, offered his rationale for posting on the social media site that he was considering taking the electric vehicle company private at $420 per share and had secured funding for such a deal.

“It was concerning because this information was not public,” Musk said about advance notice he received that the Financial Times planned to report on Aug. 7, 2018 — the day of his initial tweet — that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had acquired a 5% ownership stake in Tesla.

According to the shareholders, Musk illegally manipulated the stock price and he and Tesla's board should be held accountable for an unspecified portion of billions of dollars in damages sustained by those who bought or sold the company's stock after the tweet and up until Aug. 17, 2018.

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