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CEO Elon Musk: Tesla will remain a public company
In a blog post published Friday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he would change course from his sudden announcement three weeks ago and would actually keep Tesla as a publicly-traded company.
"It's apparent that most of Tesla's existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company," he wrote. "Additionally, a number of institutional shareholders have explained that they have internal compliance issues that limit how much they can invest in a private company. There is also no proven path for most retail investors to own shares if we were private."
Musk noted that he had met with the Tesla board of directors on Thursday and "let them know that I believe the better path is for Tesla to remain public. The board indicated that they agree."
See also: Analysis: Why Elon Musk abandoned his plan to take Tesla private
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:46PM (2 children)
What most people don't know—and what Elon Musk probably really didn't know—is that the federal government only allows private companies to sell equity to what are known as "Accredited Investors", who are basically quite rich people; in practice, this means that only a rich person is allowed by the government to choose to invest his money in a private company.
Do you get it?
Elon Musk probably thought "Fuck all this nonsense I have to deal with, such as short-selling and quarterly reporting. I'll take it private, paying retail investors and a handsome little premium to do so, and then they can just buy our private, relatively unregulated shares instead if they want."
Well, guess what. Even if you are a bachelor who owns a $16 million dollar home and who has a steady annual income of $195k, you can't buy his private shares; you don't qualify as an "accredited investor"; to be an accredited investor, you need to have a net worth of $1 million—not including your primary residence, thanks to the Democrats—or you need to be making at least $200k per year for the last 2 years, with the expectation of making at least as much in the current year.
So, that's profound. It turns out most Americans aren't free to invest their own damned money as the see fit; private investment in the next big thing is reserved for the elite.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:05PM (1 child)
The arguments against it boil down to "The little guy will get scammed/lose all their money!"
At least "equity crowdfunding" is real now, right? Right?!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:30PM
Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
Regulation A offerings places limits on the value of securities issuer may offer and individuals can invest through crowdfunding intermediaries. An issuer may sell up to $1,000,000 of its securities per 12 months, and, depending upon their net worth and income, investors will be permitted to invest up to $100,000 in crowdfunding issues per 12 months. An independent financial statement review by a CPA firm is required for raises $100,000–500,000 and an independent financial statement audit by a CPA firm is required for raises over $500,000.
Regulation CF offerings would prescribe rules governing the offer and sale of securities under new Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act of 1933. Individual investments in a 12-month period are limited to the greater of $2,000 or 5 percent of annual income or net worth, if annual income or net worth of the investor is less than $100,000; and 10% of annual income or net worth (not to exceed an amount sold of $100,000), if both annual income and net worth of the investor is $100,000 or more (these amounts are to be adjusted for inflation at least every five years); and transactions must be conducted through an intermediary that either is registered as a broker or is registered as a new type of entity called a "funding portal."
Regulation CF went into effect on May 16, 2016.
Each state has its own rules, some of which preclude any such investment.
America. Land of the Free.