SEC Subpoenas Tesla Over Musk's Taking-Private Tweet

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to Tesla Inc. (TSLA) regarding Chief Executive Elon Musk's tweet about taking the luxury electric car maker private.

According to a report on Fox Business, SEC have now started a "formal investigation" into Elon Musk's tweet from last week stating that funding for taking the company private was "secured."

Last week, Musk surprised the Wall Street by tweeting that he is considering to take Tesla private at $420 per share and the required funding was secured. However, he did not disclose any details about the funding.

On Monday, Musk, in a blog post, revealed that a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund had approached him "multiple times" about taking Tesla private.

"I left the July 31st meeting with no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving. This is why I referred to "funding secured" in the August 7th announcement," Musk said.

The Financial Times reported last week that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has acquired a significant position in Tesla shares. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has bought a 3 percent to 5 percent stake in the electric car maker, worth $1.9 billion to $3.1 billion.