The letter from Elon Musk made it clear about his intentions that he wanted Simbol Materials, and he was ready to pay a good amount for it.
Simbol asserted it had established extraordinary innovation for drawing out lithium, a crucial active ingredient in the batteries that power Tesla’s electric vehicles, from the mineral-rich brine by the southern shore of the Salton Sea, southeast of Southern California’s Coachella Valley. Tesla’s co-founder and president was on the hunt for lithium, and Simbol planned to produce huge quantities of the valuable metal.
Musk’s preliminary offer for the startup: $325 million, paid in Tesla stock.
“This is a compelling opportunity to combine two innovative companies on a mission to advance clean and sustainable energy technologies worldwide,” Musk composed in a June 21, 2014 letter to Simbol CEO John Burba, a copy of which was acquired by The Desert Sun and confirmed by a concerning individual. “We’re very impressed with what you and your management team have created at Simbol.”
“Tesla is prepared to move quickly to negotiate a potential transaction,” Musk included.
Simbol frantically required brand-new funding to remain afloat, and Tesla’s $325 million purchase offer– the size of which has never previously been reported– might have represented the business’s last, finest hope. The cash also would have been a boon for Imperial County, an impoverished, mainly farming corner of California where the unemployment rate frequently tops 20 percent.
