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Tesla makes offer to acquire SolarCity, Elon Musk doubles down

BREAKING: Tesla’s board of directors has made a bid to acquire SolarCity. The proposed acquisition of SolarCity by Tesla would amount to an approximate $2.8 billion stock-only deal or a premium of 21% to 30% over today’s SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY) closing price.
The two companies have shared history with one another through strategic partnerships that have allowed each company to leverage its core technology to provide clean energy and off-grid energy storage. Not only do both companies share a mission rooted in accelerating the transition to a sustainable energy future, they also share arguably the most critical component to driving this mission forward – Elon Musk.
Musk sits as chairman at SolarCity and also the largest individual shareholder of the company. He’s also majority shareholder and CEO at Tesla, now split into automotive division Tesla Motors, and Tesla Energy which designs and manufacturers the Powerall and Powerpack lithium-ion battery storage system used in SolarCity’s massive solar power projects.
By combining the two entities, Tesla will be able to effectively control design, strategy, and production by ultimately unifying operations under a single umbrella. Tesla’s statement reads:
“We believe that the possibilities for product, service and operational synergies would be substantial, and that a combination would allow our companies to build on our respective core competencies and remain at the forefront of delivering innovative approaches for sustainable transportation and energy.”
Full Statement from Tesla:
Tesla’s mission has always been tied to sustainability. We seek to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable transportation by offering increasingly affordable electric vehicles. And in March 2015, we launched Tesla Energy, which through the Powerwall and Powerpack allow homeowners, business owners and utilities to benefit from renewable energy storage.
It’s now time to complete the picture. Tesla customers can drive clean cars and they can use our battery packs to help consume energy more efficiently, but they still need access to the most sustainable energy source that’s available: the sun.
The SolarCity team has built its company into the clear solar industry leader in the residential, commercial and industrial markets, with significant scale and growing customer penetration. They have made it easy for customers to switch to clean energy while still providing the best customer experience. We’ve seen this all firsthand through our partnership with SolarCity on a variety of use cases, including those where SolarCity uses Tesla battery packs as part of its solar projects.
So, we’re excited to announce that Tesla today has made an offer to acquire SolarCity. A copy of Tesla’s offer is provided below.
If completed, we believe that a combination of Tesla and SolarCity would provide significant benefits to our shareholders, customers and employees:
- We would be the world’s only vertically integrated energy company offering end-to-end clean energy products to our customers. This would start with the car that you drive and the energy that you use to charge it, and would extend to how everything else in your home or business is powered. With your Model S, Model X, or Model 3, your solar panel system, and your Powerwall all in place, you would be able to deploy and consume energy in the most efficient and sustainable way possible, lowering your costs and minimizing your dependence on fossil fuels and the grid.
- We would be able to expand our addressable market further than either company could do separately. Because of the shared ideals of the companies and our customers, those who are interested in buying Tesla vehicles or Powerwalls are naturally interested in going solar, and the reverse is true as well. When brought together by the high foot traffic that is drawn to Tesla’s stores, everyone should benefit.
- We would be able to maximize and build on the core competencies of each company. Tesla’s experience in design, engineering, and manufacturing should help continue to advance solar panel technology, including by making solar panels add to the look of your home. Similarly, SolarCity’s wide network of sales and distribution channels and expertise in offering customer-friendly financing products would significantly benefit Tesla and its customers.
- We would be able to provide the best possible installation service for all of our clean energy products. SolarCity is the best at installing solar panel systems, and that expertise translates seamlessly to the installation of Powerwalls and charging systems for Tesla vehicles.
- Culturally, this is a great fit. Both companies are driven by a mission of sustainability, innovation, and overcoming any challenges that stand in the way of progress.
Today’s offer to acquire SolarCity is only the first step toward a successful combination of Tesla and SolarCity. We will provide a further update if and when an agreement is reached.
June 20, 2016
Mr. Lyndon R. Rive
Chief Executive Officer
SolarCity Corporation
3055 Clearview Way
San Mateo, CA 94402
Dear Lyndon:
We are pleased to submit to you and the SolarCity board of directors a proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of SolarCity in exchange for Tesla common shares. Subject to completing due diligence, we propose an exchange ratio of 0.122x to 0.131x shares of Tesla common stock for each share of SolarCity common stock. This proposal represents a value of $26.50 to $28.50 per share, or a premium of approximately 21% to 30% over the closing price of SolarCity’s shares, based on today’s closing price of SolarCity’s shares and the 5-day volume weighted average price of Tesla shares. We believe that our proposal offers fair and compelling value for SolarCity and its stockholders, while also giving SolarCity’s stockholders the opportunity to receive Tesla common stock at a premium exchange ratio and the opportunity to participate in the success of the combined company through their ongoing ownership of Tesla stock.
The board of directors of Tesla is excited at the prospect of a potential combination of SolarCity’s business with Tesla. We believe that the possibilities for product, service and operational synergies would be substantial, and that a combination would allow our companies to build on our respective core competencies and remain at the forefront of delivering innovative approaches for sustainable transportation and energy. We believe that a combination would generate significant benefits for stockholders, customers and employees of both Tesla and SolarCity.
We are committed to a possible transaction that is fair to SolarCity’s and Tesla’s respective stockholders. To help ensure that, Tesla is prepared to make the consummation of a combination of our companies subject to the approval of a majority of disinterested stockholders of both SolarCity and Tesla voting on the transaction. In addition, as a result of their overlapping directorships, Elon Musk and Antonio Gracias have recused themselves from voting on this proposal at the Tesla board meeting at which it was approved, and will recuse themselves from voting on this proposal at the SolarCity board as well. We believe that any transaction should be the result of full and fair deliberation and negotiation by both of our boards and the fully-informed consideration of our respective stockholders.
Our proposal is subject to the satisfactory completion of due diligence, the negotiation of mutually agreeable definitive transaction documents, and final approval by the Tesla board. While a transaction would be further subject to customary and usual closing conditions, we believe that Tesla is well positioned to negotiate and complete the transaction in an expedited manner. We do not anticipate significant regulatory or other obstacles in consummating a mutually beneficial transaction promptly.
In light of Elon Musk’s SEC disclosure obligations in his individual capacity as a stockholder of SolarCity this proposal will be publicly disclosed, but Tesla’s intention is to proceed only on a friendly basis.
We look forward to discussing a potential transaction with you, and hope to expeditiously enter into a definitive agreement.
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors of
Tesla Motors, Inc.

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Tesla contract with Baltimore paused after city ‘decided to go in a different direction’

Last Summer, Tesla landed a $5 million contract with the City of Baltimore for a fleet of electric vehicles for the local government. However, Mayor Brandon Scott decided to pause that investment in September after the City “decided to go in a different direction.”
This is according to John Riggin, spokesman for the city’s Department of General Services. Riggin confirmed that the contract with Tesla has not been fulfilled, and Baltimore is going with other options for the time being:
“No Tesla units have been ordered, and none are in the City’s fleet.”
It now seems that the contract, which was set to be run until 2027, is not really a typical “contract” in the sense of the word. Riggin said the city is not obligated to spend the money for vehicles from Tesla, and that it is evaluating offerings from a variety of OEMs, including Ford and General Motors.
Tesla chosen over Ford for $5 million Baltimore City EV fleet
Riggin said the value of the contract is more of a ceiling and not necessarily an obligation to spend the committed amount in full.
The contract has not been canceled officially, but City Comptroller Bill Henry said to the Baltimore Sun that it has gone back to purchasing Mustang Mach-Es from Ford, the vehicle that was snubbed for Teslas back in July when things were initially decided.
The timing of the pause is interesting, and it does not seem to have anything to do with CEO Elon Musk’s direct involvement with the Trump administration, although the EV maker’s frontman was already vocalizing his distaste for the Democratic White House run by the Biden Administration.
Baltimore has a citywide goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, and has used EVs in its fleet for several years to reach that goal. It plans to electrify the city vehicle fleet by 2030.
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Tesla at risk of 95% crash, claims billionaire hedge fund manager
Tesla stock has been extremely volatile as of late amidst souring sentiments over CEO Elon Musk’s political leanings.

Christer Gardell, a Swedish billionaire and hedge fund manager, issued a stark warning about Tesla stock and what he believes are bubbles in the stock market. The billionaire’s insights about Tesla were shared during an interview with EFN.
Tesla stock has been extremely volatile as of late amidst controversies and souring sentiments over CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly political leanings.
Alleged Tesla (TSLA) risks
Gardell did not mince words about Tesla, stating that the electric vehicle maker’s valuation could drop as much as 95% due to the “circus” surrounding its CEO.
“Tesla, especially now with the whole Musk circus going on everywhere, is probably the most expensive stock on the global stock exchanges right now. It could go down 95% – and maybe it should go down 95%,” he said in the interview.
The Swedish billionaire sees Tesla as fundamentally a car company. Thus, he does not understand why the market has given the EV maker such a high value. For context, the Tesla story has been changing in recent years, with the company growing its energy business and delving into AI and robotics.
Gardell Slams “Eternal Bubble“
Gardell believes the EV maker has become a poster child of sorts of a market that has become speculative, where share prices do not reflect true valuations anymore, as noted in a CarUp report. The hedge fund manager noted that in Tesla’s case, this “eternal bubble” should have burst long ago.
“I have commented that it should have burst over the past five years, but it still hasn’t. The valuation is incomprehensible,” he explained. The hedge fund manager, however, noted that once the crash happens, the decline would be dramatic.
“It’s always hard to say when. It could happen in a month, six months, a year, three years, or five years – it’s impossible to answer. Because there’s so much money dominating the stock market now, and they don’t care about the value of the shares, they speculate on price movements,” he said.
U.S. Stocks Overpriced, Europe Offers Value
Looking beyond Tesla, Gardell flagged broader risks in the U.S. stock market, which he described as significantly overvalued. “American stocks have received very large flows recently. If you look at the American stock market, it is very expensive, both from a purely absolute perspective and from a historical perspective,” he stated.
In contrast, Gardell touted European stocks as a more attractive option for investors. “And the difference between American stocks and European stocks has never been greater. Normally, European stocks have had a discount of 20%, now it is 40%. And that is too high,” he noted.
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Tesla store shooting incident under investigation

Oregon police are investigating a shooting incident involving a Tesla store.
A Tesla store in Tigard, a city southwest of Portland, was vandalized around 2:00 am on Thursday, March 6.
“The damage was discovered by employees who arrived for work this morning (3/6/25) at the dealership on SW Cascade Avenue. Investigators believe at least 7 shots were fired, damaging 3 cars and shattering windows. One bullet went through an office wall and into a computer monitor. Fortunately, this happened overnight when the property was unoccupied,” stated a Tigard Police report.
Crime scene technicians and investigators are gathering physical and video evidence of the shooting. Tigard Police did not officially announce a motivation for the shooting at the Tesla store. However, they acknowledge that a few Tesla locations have been targeted across Oregon and the nation.
Tesla locations across the United States and abroad have been experiencing attacks recently. Most of the company’s locations experience arson attacks. For instance, in France, around a dozen Tesla vehicles were reportedly torched in a suburb near Toulouse. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, a few Tesla Superchargers were allegedly set on fire near a shopping center. Tesla protests have also started in various locations.
Police have not provided an official reason or motivation for all the arson attacks and the Oregon shooting because they are still under investigation. However, Elon Musk is definitely at the root of the matter.
Elon Musk has recently found himself the target of plenty of ire in the United States and Europe. Tesla is taking the brunt of all the anger pointed toward Musk.
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