Tesla CEO Elon Musk is running short on personal financial resources. That is of course, a nice way of saying Musk’s bank account has run dry.
According to a report released by VentureBeat.com on Friday, Musk, the electric-car entrepreneur and a critical figure to Tesla Motor’s future, is currently living off his friends’ money.
“About four months ago, I ran out of cash,” Musk wrote in a court filing with the Superior Court of Los Angeles on Feb. 23. “I had to obtain emergency loans from personal friends. These loans are the exclusive source of cash I have. If I did not take these loans, I would have no liquid assets left.”
The documents filed on February were part of Musk’s messy divorce trial from his estranged wife, novelist Justine Musk.
Elon Musk said that even with the money borrowed from his friends, he had less than $650,000 in convertible securities available to meet immediate needs. The documents showed that Elon, who is the primary investor in Tesla Motors, was spending $200,000 a month while bringing in only $8,255 in personal income (the $200K in monthly spending has goine toward living expenses and supporting his wife and children, according to the filing).
Musk’s soon-to-be-ex-wife Justine Musk, claims on her blog she is asking for the house, alimony and child support, $6 million in cash, 10% of his stock in Tesla, 5% of his stock in SpaceX and a Tesla Roadster as well.
Clearly this is a critical period for Tesla’s development as a company, especially given Tesla’s pending IPO. If Mr. Musk’s stakes in Tesla should be divided with his former wife, that would consequently dilute Elon Musk’s control over the company ; a dynamic that would prompt the co.’s board of directors to decide whether they would take Tesla’s strategy in a different direction.
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