Why Elon Musk reversed course on taking Tesla private

While going private might have removed some problems, it would have introduced new ones

When Elon Musk declared this month that he wanted to take Tesla private, his board was caught off guard. Barely three weeks later, the chief executive told the board he had changed his mind. Tesla would be staying public, after all.

The startling reversal — announced late on Friday in a blog post, a day after he discussed it with directors — capped a tumultuous series of moves that drew in Wall Street’s biggest investment banks, prompted an investigation by regulators and raised fresh questions about Musk’s leadership.

In that time, according to five people close to the