Shares in Tesla fell five percent as Elon Musk announced plans to keep the car maker public.
The founder of the electric car company wrote in a blog post that was published on the company’s site saying the controversial plan was cancelled and “given the feedback, it’s apparent that most of Tesla’s existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company”.
“Earlier this month, I announced that I was considering taking Tesla private. As part of the process, it was important to understand whether our current investors believed this would be a good strategic move and whether they would want to participate in a private Tesla,” he wrote.
“Our investors are extremely important to me. Almost all have stuck with us from the time we went public in 2010 when we had no cars in production and only a vision of what we wanted to be. They believe strongly in our mission to advance sustainable energy and care deeply about our success,” added Musk.
On August 7, the Tesla founder and CEO tweeted he was planning on taking the group private and that he had “funding secured” for a buyout at $420 a share.
Following the news, shares have fallen ten percent since their August 7 level.
“Musk’s involvement in the company is critical, but now more than ever a solid #2 – someone with strong operational background that can help Tesla move from ideas to execution – is crucial,” said Joseph Spak from RBC Capital Markets, who questions Musk’s credibility.
However, Tesla said on Sunday that it is not looking for a chief operating officer.
“While we are always looking for highly talented executives (…) there is no active COO search,” wrote a spokesperson in an email.
Earlier this month Musk announced on Twitter that he had acquired the funding to take Tesla private at a value of $72 billion (£57 billion). Following the tweet, it was soon revealed Musk had not closed a deal with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the founder had investors start a series of lawsuits against him.
Shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) are down 3.48 percent at 311,59 (1617 GMT).