Elon Musk says going private is 'best path forward' for Tesla

He stunned investors on Tuesday with a tweet saying he had already lined up funding, and he told employees that it would relieve the company of the "enormous pressure" of Wall Street's expectations.

"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," Musk wrote in a letter that was made public by the company.

He also said being public "means that there are large numbers of people who have the incentive to attack the company." Musk has complained repeatedly about short-sellers, who profit when Tesla stock drops.

This is a developing story.