Tesla Motors will place two billion dollars worth of shares on the market with the aim of raking in resources to accelerate production plans for its Model 3 electric car and to cover the tax burdens of the company's owner and CEO, Elon Musk. The company announced it Wednesday evening, after the closure of Wall Street.
In detail, shares worth 1,4 billion will be sold by the automaker, raising 1,7 billion including underwriters' commissions. The rest of the shares will be sold directly by Musk to pay taxes related to the exercise of his options on more than 5,5 million shares.
Tesla already has over 400.000 reservations for the Model 3, its first mass model at a list price of around $35.000. It should be available from 2017 with a range of 215 miles. The company's plans call for the production of half a million cars by 2018.
The group founded and led by Elon Musk plans to sell 8,2 million shares at a unit price of $204,66. Tesla, which had rallied by 3,18% on Wednesday's session on the Nasdaq, ended up losing more than 2% in the extended market around $206 in value. Tesla's last stock issue, in August of last year, was made at a price of $242.
