Tesla has announced that its plans to sell its shares and raise up to $5 billion in a new round soon. The plan was disclosed today in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and comes days after the company announced a 5:1 stock split following massive rally.
The electric car manufacturer plans to sell these shares through a program conducted by Goldman Sachs & Co, Bank of America Securities Inc, Citigroup Global Markets Inc and Morgan Stanley & Co, Wells Fargo Securities LLC and many other Wall Street biggies. These banks will be eligible to receive a commission of 0.5% of gross value of each share sold and reimbursement for certain expenses.
Tesla’s stocks, contrary to analysts’ beliefs, have jumped almost 500% in 2020, forcing Elon Musk’s company to divide its stock price to make it more affordable for investors. However, Tesla’s 5-for 1 split on Monday sent its stock price surging sky high. On Monday, its shares rose by 13% to $498.32 (even though today it fell by 3% to $485 a share).
The company reported a fourth consecutive profitable quarter in July, first time in its history. The current stock price makes Tesla worth around $450 billion, making Elon Musk the third richest man on Earth. All of this has led to Musk capitalizing on the situation and raising new capital, despite of his usual reluctance to do so to prevent ‘dilution’ of stocks.
Tesla hasn’t mentioned specifically where it will use the funds raised from the new shares sales. In its SEC filing it states that these funds will be, “to further strengthen our balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes,” without any specific mention of how it will go about this process.
