Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA)

A class action has been commenced on behalf of purchasers of Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) common stock between August 7, 2018 to August 14, 2018 (the “Class Period”).

The complaint charges Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Tesla designs, manufactures and sells high-performance fully electric vehicles and designs, manufactures, installs and sells energy-generation and energy-storage products.

The complaint alleges that on August 7, 2018, starting at 9:48 am, Musk began issuing public statements on Twitter regarding his intention to take Tesla private (the "Going-Private Transaction"). Specifically, Musk tweeted the following statements, among others: "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." "Shareholders could either to sell [sic] at 420 or hold shares & go private." "Investor support is confirmed. Only reason why this is not certain is that it's contingent on a shareholder vote."

According to the complaint, in reaction to Musk's statements, on August 7, 2018, the price of Tesla common stock increased to an intra-day high of $387.46 per share, or $45.47 per share higher than the previous day's closing price, before closing at $379.57 per share, an increase of $37.58 per share, or approximately 11%, from the previous day’s closing price.

The complaint further alleges that the tweets and other statements made by Musk were materially false and misleading and/or failed to disclose that the defendants had not secured funding for the Going-Private Transaction; that Musk's statement that the Going-Private Transaction only required shareholder approval was false since the Going-Private Transaction required approval by the Company's Board of Directors and the Board was unaware of the funding referred to by Musk; and that the status and likelihood of the Going-Private Transaction were misrepresented to the market because financing for it had not been secured and Board approval was required.

According to the complaint, on August 8 and 9, 2018, the truth began to be revealed as investors learned that the Going-Private Transaction was still being evaluated and could be rejected by the Board. This allegedly contradicted Musk's representation the prior day that the Going-Private Transaction was all but certain, with only a shareholder vote needed to complete the transaction. Additionally, investors learned that Musk's tweet was the subject of an SEC inquiry. On August 8, 2018, Tesla's shares fell $9.23 per share, or 2.4%, to close at $370.34 per share, and on August 9, 2018, Tesla shares fell by $17.89 per share, nearly 5%, to close at $352.45 per share, resulting in a two-day decline of more than 7%.

The complaint further alleges that on August 13, 2018, after the markets closed, Musk tweeted: "I'm excited to work with Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors, plus Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Munger, Tolles & Olson as legal advisors, on the proposal to take Tesla private." However, according to the complaint, on August 14, 2018, Bloomberg published an article entitled "Goldman Is Said to Have No Mandate When Musk Tweeted," reporting that neither Goldman Sachs nor Silver Lake were yet working with Musk pursuant to a signed agreement or in an official capacity when Musk said on Twitter late Monday, August 13, 2018, that both firms were working with him as financial advisers. Following this news, Tesla's shares fell $8.77 per share, or nearly 2.5%, to close at $347.64 per share on August 14, 2018.

If you are a current shareholder and purchased stock between August 7, 2018 to August 14, 2018, and would like to discuss your options of exercising your rights as a shareholder, please contact us.

Please submit the following information so we can determine if you qualify for the suit. If you don't know all the specific details, partial information is also acceptable.

Please Note: Neither the submission to nor the receipt of information by The Law Offices of Marc S. Henzel or one of its attorneys through this website constitutes an agreement by the firm to represent the individual and does not create an attorney-client relationship.