FILE PHOTO: A Tesla sales and service center is shown in Costa Mesa, California, U.S. June 28, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
NEW YORK, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Shares of Tesla surged nearly 11 percent on Tuesday after its CEO Elon Musk surprised the market by announcing plans to take the company private at 420 U.S. dollars per share.
Musk broke the news in a series of tweets around mid-day session on Tuesday. The company's stock halted trading for 90 minutes before an official statement was announced.
"First, a final decision has not yet been made, but the reason for doing this is all about creating the environment for Tesla to operate best," said Musk in the statement.
The CEO also laid out several constraints he faces when running Tesla as a public company.
"As a public company, we are subject to wild swings in our stock price that can be a major distraction for everyone working at Tesla, all of whom are shareholders," he said.
"Being public also subjects us to the quarterly earnings cycle that puts enormous pressure on Tesla to make decisions that may be right for a given quarter, but not necessarily right for the long-term," he added.
Tesla is also the most shorted stock in history, which exposes it to attacks from large number of investors, Musk said.
He added in a tweet after the statement that investor support for the plan "is confirmed," and that the only reason the decision is not certain yet is that it would be contingent on a shareholder vote.
Shares of Tesla soared 10.99 percent to close at 379.57 U.S. dollars per share on Tuesday.
Listed in 2010, Tesla's current market value is 64 billion U.S. dollars. At a share price of 420 U.S. dollars, the company would be worth 71 billion U.S. dollars.