RE:Did Elon take Tesla private at $420/share?Tesla certainly had some thin, early years under Musk's leadership As December 2008 rolled in, Tesla was on the brink of financial collapse. The company was set to run out of money on Christmas Eve, with neither Tesla nor Musk personally having enough funds to cover the next payroll. In a desperate bid to raise $20 million in new equity funding to keep Tesla afloat, Musk turned to his existing investors. However, one major investor, VantagePoint Capital led by Alan Salzman, resisted the plan. The success of this equity round depended on unanimous approval from existing investors.
Musk and Salzman had been at odds for months over Tesla's strategic direction. Salzman advocated for Tesla to become a supplier of battery packs to traditional car manufacturers like Chrysler. Musk vehemently disagreed, believing that such a move would be a mistake given the dire state of the legacy car industry.
Boardroom Drama
The tension escalated to a point where Salzman attempted to remove Musk as Tesla's CEO during an unofficial board call. Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother and a Tesla board member, vehemently opposed this move and blocked a board vote to oust Elon Musk.
Wowsers...fire Elon? Just what the riff raff here want to do to Hugues