Elon Musk Said Tesla Buyout Plan Didnt Involve a Specific Number

Under questioning, Mr. Musk said he hadnt discussed how much money investors would put in to help him take his car company private.

Under direct questioning by a federal judge on Tuesday, Elon Musk could not say exactly how much money investors were considering putting into his 2018 proposal to take Tesla off the stock market.

Mr. Musk wrote on Twitter on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had funding secured for the deal. But during his last day of testimony in a trial in San Francisco, he acknowledged that individuals and investment funds he had discussed his plan with had not indicated the amounts they were willing to invest in the deal.

Not a specific number, Mr. Musk replied after the judge, Edward M. Chen, told him that he had to answer yes or no when asked whether dollar amounts had been discussed. Judge Chen asked Mr. Musk the question at least twice, intervening after Mr. Musk did not clearly answer questions posed by a lawyer for the investors suing him and Tesla, Nicholas Porritt.