30 ms·

How is Elon going to make a quick buck from a failed deal? If anything he'll have to pay out significantly.

pavlov 4y ago
He got an excuse to sell lots of Tesla stock at a price 40% higher than today. Selling the stock without this charade would have sent a negative message about how little he believes in Tesla’s stock price and sunk the price further. Even accounting for the breakup fee he comes ahead financially by many billions in cash, while also building his image as the free speech edgelord. Win-win.
- camjw 4y ago
  I remember reading on here that the breakup fee is only applicable in very narrow cases, basically only if the US govt blocks the deal. If it's not applicable then he's on the hook for the whole ~40billy. Does he still come out ahead financially in that case if, for instance, the Twitter board take him to court? Genuine question.
  - pavlov 4y ago
    Would they really go to court? That could take years and create a cloud of uncertainty around Twitter — certainly not good for shareholder value. It's much easier for the board if they settle privately with Musk: "Yeah, pay the breakup fee and we'll forget this ever happened."
    - sangnoir 4y ago
      I read someone else's analysis of the agreement: it bizarrely sets the cap for any damages that can be sued in court to $1B - same as the breakup fee. This obviously gives Elon an incentive to not pay breakup fee, but go to court first instead. At worst, he'd pay a billion, and best, whatever the court says thats less than a billion + legal fees
  - ProjectArcturis 4y ago
    Read Matt Levine's Money Stuff column from the past couple days -- it explains realistically what could happen.
- plausibledeny 4y ago
  He just sold $16 billion worth of Tesla stock in Nov/Dec 2021, why would he need a fake excuse to sell another $8 billion in April 2022?
  - ahahahahah 4y ago
    Your logic is terrible. Your argument would only make sense if he didn't have an excuse for the previous sale, but he did.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- mandeepj 4y ago
  > He got an excuse to sell lots of Tesla stock at a price 40% higher than today. Ironically, Twitter deal plus related announcements hammered the stock more than the overall market downturn. Besides that, I believe no one wants this deal to go through including US government. Earlier, The board could not legally decline the deal
minsc_and_boo 4y ago
Musk has a history of making public, bad-faith declarations to pump assets he later sells at profit. More than one person has pointed out that Musk likely wanted to sell his Twitter stock, and was using the official-looking, low-ball buy offer to pump it. Twitter board smartly called his bluff, and now Musk is trying to weasel his way out of paying anything.
- gzer0 4y ago
  > Musk has a history of making public, bad-faith declarations to pump assets he later sells at profit. Could you point me to those instances? His offer wasn't a lowball offer at all considering the tech stock bloodbath we have seen as of late, and especially so because the offer was made just right before the massive downturn we have witnessed. I think it's quite the contrary; 44 billion is way higher than its worth imo. > Musk is trying to weasel his way out of paying anything. He would need to pay a $1 billion break up fee. I don't understand what point you are trying to make here.
  - blitzar 4y ago
    > His offer wasn't a lowball offer at all considering the tech stock bloodbath we have seen as of late The real bloodbath came after he bought it, at the time it was a modest premium. > He would need to pay a $1 billion break up fee. He is laying out the case at the moment to walk away and pay no break up fee.
  - jen20 4y ago
    > Could you point me to those instances? Here's one [1]. [1]: https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/08/the-sec-wants-tesla-to-explain-elons-420-tweet/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/08/the-sec-wants-tesla-to-exp...
    - labcomputer 4y ago
      You mean the instance where he did have a verbal agreement with an able buyer? A buyer who admitted to such in private text messages that came to light in court proceedings, and who later bought a different electric car startup?
panspermia 4y ago
- sangnoir 4y ago
  Can't wait for the $2,000 "Texas TruckNutz" option for the Tesla Cybertruck. Retractable, obviously - for better aerodynamics.
  - toast0 4y ago
    Or when it's cold outside, presumably.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
The PR is priceless.

He got an excuse to sell lots of Tesla stock at a price 40% higher than today. Selling the stock without this charade would have sent a negative message about how little he believes in Tesla’s stock price and sunk the price further. Even accounting for the breakup fee he comes ahead financially by many billions in cash, while also building his image as the free speech edgelord. Win-win.

camjw 4y ago
I remember reading on here that the breakup fee is only applicable in very narrow cases, basically only if the US govt blocks the deal. If it's not applicable then he's on the hook for the whole ~40billy. Does he still come out ahead financially in that case if, for instance, the Twitter board take him to court? Genuine question.
- pavlov 4y ago
  Would they really go to court? That could take years and create a cloud of uncertainty around Twitter — certainly not good for shareholder value. It's much easier for the board if they settle privately with Musk: "Yeah, pay the breakup fee and we'll forget this ever happened."
  - sangnoir 4y ago
    I read someone else's analysis of the agreement: it bizarrely sets the cap for any damages that can be sued in court to $1B - same as the breakup fee. This obviously gives Elon an incentive to not pay breakup fee, but go to court first instead. At worst, he'd pay a billion, and best, whatever the court says thats less than a billion + legal fees
- ProjectArcturis 4y ago
  Read Matt Levine's Money Stuff column from the past couple days -- it explains realistically what could happen.
plausibledeny 4y ago
He just sold $16 billion worth of Tesla stock in Nov/Dec 2021, why would he need a fake excuse to sell another $8 billion in April 2022?
- ahahahahah 4y ago
  Your logic is terrible. Your argument would only make sense if he didn't have an excuse for the previous sale, but he did.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mandeepj 4y ago
> He got an excuse to sell lots of Tesla stock at a price 40% higher than today. Ironically, Twitter deal plus related announcements hammered the stock more than the overall market downturn. Besides that, I believe no one wants this deal to go through including US government. Earlier, The board could not legally decline the deal

minsc_and_boo 4y ago

Musk has a history of making public, bad-faith declarations to pump assets he later sells at profit. More than one person has pointed out that Musk likely wanted to sell his Twitter stock, and was using the official-looking, low-ball buy offer to pump it. Twitter board smartly called his bluff, and now Musk is trying to weasel his way out of paying anything.

gzer0 4y ago
> Musk has a history of making public, bad-faith declarations to pump assets he later sells at profit. Could you point me to those instances? His offer wasn't a lowball offer at all considering the tech stock bloodbath we have seen as of late, and especially so because the offer was made just right before the massive downturn we have witnessed. I think it's quite the contrary; 44 billion is way higher than its worth imo. > Musk is trying to weasel his way out of paying anything. He would need to pay a $1 billion break up fee. I don't understand what point you are trying to make here.
- blitzar 4y ago
  > His offer wasn't a lowball offer at all considering the tech stock bloodbath we have seen as of late The real bloodbath came after he bought it, at the time it was a modest premium. > He would need to pay a $1 billion break up fee. He is laying out the case at the moment to walk away and pay no break up fee.
- jen20 4y ago
  > Could you point me to those instances? Here's one [1]. [1]: https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/08/the-sec-wants-tesla-to-explain-elons-420-tweet/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/08/the-sec-wants-tesla-to-exp...
  - labcomputer 4y ago
    You mean the instance where he did have a verbal agreement with an able buyer? A buyer who admitted to such in private text messages that came to light in court proceedings, and who later bought a different electric car startup?

panspermia 4y ago

sangnoir 4y ago
Can't wait for the $2,000 "Texas TruckNutz" option for the Tesla Cybertruck. Retractable, obviously - for better aerodynamics.
- toast0 4y ago
  Or when it's cold outside, presumably.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

The PR is priceless.