Elon Musk privately raged at Saudi officials over his failed plan to take Tesla private

Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

According to newly disclosed text messages, Musk raged at the head of the Saudi wealth fund for failing to back his bid to take the company private.

Musk wrote a letter to the governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The texts were sent a few days after Musk shocked the financial world by saying he was considering taking the company private at $420 a share.

The lawsuit was brought by shareholders who claim that Musk lied about having the money to take the company private. A series of texts between Musk, shareholders, board members, and other relevant parties was disclosed in a recent court filing.

Musk's texts with Al-Rumayyan stand out. The billionaire CEO was incensed by news stories that claimed that Saudi officials told him that the PIF was not interested in taking the company private. Musk was angry with the news stories.

In one of the messages, Musk said that the conversation they had at the company was weak. You made it clear that you were the one who made the decision and that the Crown Prince was behind you.

I apologize, but we can't work together.

It's up to you, Al-Rumayyan said.

Musk said that he was being thrown under the bus.

It takes two to tango, Al-Rumayyan said, adding that PIF has yet to receive financial information from Musk's team. The governor of the PIF said that the fund wouldn't be able to move forward in its talks with the company without sufficient information.

Musk was critical of Al-Rumayyan for claiming to need more information than was already disclosed. The Crown Prince supported the takeprivate deal that you said you wanted to do for two years, when we met recently. I checked with my team who were in that meeting to make sure I remembered everything.

He said that a go-private would require a 20% premium to market in order to buy out any shareholders who don't want to. This is standard practice. Nothing unusual at all.

There are many other investment funds who want to be part of this deal. I will not work with an organization that makes public statements that do not match their private statements to me and my team.

The need for more information was reiterated by Al-Rumayyan, while he denied that anyone at PIF had gone to the media.

I read it. It is weak sauce and makes me sound like a liar.

Musk refused to continue the discussion in private. Someone is either a friend or not a friend, and no friend says anything publicly or privately. This is not right.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission concluded that Musk had never discussed a going-private transaction at $420 per share, despite having held a few meetings with PIF.

Musk decided to abandon his plan to take the company private due to the distraction it would cause. The process of exploring his options reinforced Musk's belief that there is more than enough funding to take the company private.

Musk sent texts to Larry Page in the filing. Two days after sending his funding secured, Musk called Page. This is the man, Elon. I'm not sure if you have my new number.

I didn't have it, but I am traveling. Page replied, "Nice block 5!"

Musk asked if he could invest in the company.