After a mere eight years of public availability, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday he’s considering taking the electric car company private.


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Musk went to Twitter to announce his consideration.

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Tesla stock was trading at about $355 a share before Musk’s tweet. It jumped about 5 percent after the tweet.

“The reason for doing this is all about creating the environment for Tesla to operate best,” Musk wrote. “As a public company, we are subject to wild swings in our stock price that can be a major distraction for everyone working at Tesla, all of whom are shareholders.”

Trading of Tesla shares resumed after the company published the statement and the stock closed at $379.57, up nearly 11 percent for the day.

Musk said he will give shareholders a choice: either remain investors in a private Tesla or sell their stock for $420 per share, a 20 percent premium over the price at the time of the company’s recent quarterly earnings call.

“This has nothing to do with accumulating control for myself,” Musk said. “I own about 20% of the company now, and I don’t envision that being substantially different after any deal is completed.”