CNBC’s Jim Cramer warns Tesla critics about getting their hopes up that the federal government will penalize Elon Musk for his tweet about taking the electric auto maker private.
“If you’re waiting for the [Securities and Exchange Commission] to hammer Tesla, well let me just tell you, we’ll be on Mars” by then, Cramer said Tuesday on “Squawk on the Street.”
SpaceX, the private commercial space company run by Musk, aims to send its first cargo mission to Mars by 2022 with the first humans going to the red planet in 2024.
Musk’s tweet last week on Tesla stunned Wall Street investors, with some questioning whether the CEO and co-founder could face consequences if it were proven he didn’t secure financing at the time of his post.
Tesla and Musk have been sued by investors who claim that the company and Musk fraudulently schemed to squeeze short sellers, who can bet against a company by selling shares they don’t own and buying them back at a lower price.
Early Monday, Musk attempted to clear up questions about his tweets. In a blog post, he said his claim that he had secured the necessary funding was based on repeated and ongoing conversations with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. On Tuesday, Tesla said its board formed a special committee to evaluate Musk’s desire to go private.
In a “Fast Money Halftime Report” interview Monday, Cramer said any suggestion that Musk will go to jail is complete “nonsense.”
Cramer, whose charitable trust does not own shares of Tesla, urged investors to listen to comments Monday by billionaire investor Mark Cuban on CNBC. Cuban defended the Tesla chief, saying in part, “When you invest in an entrepreneur, you get the personality.”
“We keep expecting a certain level of convention, and [Musk’s] not going to give it to you,” Cramer, the host of “Mad Money” said Tuesday. “Therefore, you should stop looking for it.”
