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Tesla’s Elon Musk shares new insights on “funding secured” tweet as messages with Saudi PIF are revealed
Elon Musk recently shared some insights about his infamous 2018 “funding secured” tweet, which he posted when he announced his intentions to take Tesla private. The Tesla CEO’s recent comments came as text messages between Musk and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund Head were shared online.
The text messages between Musk and the Saudi PIF Head Yasir Al-Rumayyan were revealed as part of a 300-page motion filed late last week by Alex Spiro, the Tesla CEO’s lead attorney. The messages were part of Musk’s deposition with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the CEO of securities fraud.
In August 2018, Musk announced on Twitter that he was looking to take Tesla private at $420 per share (pre-split) and that he had funding secured. A blog post published soon after explained that Musk’s reference to funding being secured came from previous talks with the Saudi PIF. Musk eventually walked away from the take-private deal, despite Tesla’s financial advisers coming up with a possible list of investors which included Silver Lake and Volkswagen AG.
A look at Musk’s texts to the Saudi PIF Head showed that the CEO was extremely adamant about the sovereign fund confirming that it had shown interest in helping Tesla become a private company. The initial messages shared by Musk’s attorney were calm enough, with the Saudi PIF head confirming that any Tesla venture in Saudi will be 100% owned by the EV maker with no strings attached.
The next messages, which seemed to follow a report which alleged that the Saudi PIF had no interest in helping Tesla go private, were more aggressive.
During his appearance at TED 2022, Musk noted that he has an obsession with the truth. This is something that was extremely evident in his texts with the Saudi PIF Head. Musk confronted Al-Rumayyan about the report, noting that “This is false.” The Saudi PIF Head confirmed Musk’s statement, noting that the report was “Not true” and that “Nobody talked to them (the media).” The Saudi PIF eventually issued a statement, but Musk was not happy with its content and tone.
“This is an extremely weak statement and does not reflect the conversation we had at Tesla,” Musk sternly wrote, also adding later on that the Saudi PIF was “throwing me under the bus.”
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Al-Rumayyan’s attempts at placating the Tesla CEO were evident in later messages, with the PIF Head assuring Musk that he was a friend and thus must not be treated like an enemy. “The last thing I want to do is ‘throw you under the bus.’ I am your friend. So, please don’t treat me like an enemy,” the PIF Head wrote to Musk.
Despite the back and forth, however, Musk remained aggravated about the situation. Even after Al-Rumayyan shared another article, Musk noted that the piece was “weak sauce and makes me sound like a liar.” Musk then noted that “There will be no further communication unless you fix the public perception of wishy washy support and interest from the PIF.” Al-Rumayyan’s last messages to Musk shared in Spiro’s filing stated that the Saudi PIF would be working on a statement, a move that the Tesla CEO stated meant “a great deal.”
In recent Twitter posts, Musk shared some more insights on his “funding secured” tweet. According to Musk, and just as the CEO stated in his text messages from 2018, “the head of Saudi PIF committed unequivocally to take Tesla private with me, as witnessed by the Tesla CFO and several others. That is why I said funding was secured.” Musk also posted some fresh criticism of the SEC’s San Fransisco Office, which he described as “puppets” of Wall Street short seller sharks.
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Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.
Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.
Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.
Tesla has received its Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority says that operations are limited to a maximum fleet of 10 fully autonomous vehicles and shall be conducted only within the Authority-approved Operational Design… https://t.co/Cxfd6GIfDk pic.twitter.com/iOO6wSZkHF
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2026
The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.
Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.
Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
