Tesla reportedly today and JPMorgan Chase & Co. filed a lawsuit over a bond deal. Tesla launched a counterclaim and alleges that JPMorgan Chase & Co. tried to take advantage of the opportunity to make ill-gotten gains after CEO Elon Musk made remarks about Tesla's privatization in 2018.
On the same day, Tesla filed a complaint in a federal district in Manhattan, New York, USA. Tesla alleges that in 2014, Tesla issued a batch of convertible bonds, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. bank obtained warrants in addition to the bonds.
Tesla alleges that JPMorgan unilaterally modified the terms of the warrants and later demanded an additional $162.2 million in compensation from Tesla, an act of pure "greed" and "malicious fraud."
Tesla said in the complaint that the reason why JPMorgan Chase proposed an outrageous compensation fund request is actually a kind of retaliation for Tesla, because Tesla has abandoned cooperation with JPMorgan Chase in many previous businesses, and this request also reflects the anger of JPMorgan Chase management towards Musk.
Tesla also said that JPMorgan chasers have received billions of dollars in returns from warrants because of the sharp rise in Tesla's stock price, but they have modified the agreement on the warrants in order to get another ill-gotten gain.
Brian Marchiony, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, responded in an email that Tesla's allegations were baseless and that the essence of the dispute was to get Tesla to fulfill its obligations under the bond contract.
This time, Tesla's counterclaim against JPMorgan Chase highlights the contradiction between the largest bank in the United States and the world's most valuable car company. It is reported that since the dispute over this bond contract, the two companies have no other business dealings.
The so-called warrants are similar to a stock option, and the holder of the warrant can obtain shares of a company on a specific date and at a specific price according to the agreement.
On November 15 last year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. first sued Tesla. The bank said Tesla's warrant clause allowed the bank to lower the price of the actual subscription shares (so that holders could receive higher economic returns), thus avoiding the economic shock to holders from tesla-related other transactions.
JPMorgan chase pointed out that on August 7, 2018, Musk posted on the Twitter website that he would consider taking Tesla private and delisting, and he already had funds. And 17 days later, Musk posted again to deny the plan. JPMorgan believes that Musk's move is in line with the "Tesla-related transaction" mentioned in the warrant agreement that affects the interests of holders, because this storm has caused Tesla's stock price to fluctuate significantly.
JPMorgan Chase accused Tesla of violating the bond and warrant agreement because Tesla did not provide JPMorgan with any stock and cash when the warrant agreement expired in June and July 2021. By then, Tesla's stock price had tripled tenfold.
Musk's above-mentioned privatization remarks caused him and Tesla great trouble, and the SEC opened an investigation and launched a civil lawsuit. In the end, Musk was forced to resign as chairman of Tesla (continuing to retain the CEO position), and he and Tesla each paid a $20 million fine to the SEC.
According to reports, Tesla demanded compensation for economic losses in this counterclaim, but the amount is unknown.
Source: Sina Technology
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