JPMorgan Chase slapped Tesla with $162M lawsuit over stock warrants

JPMorgan Chase & Co filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's Tesla Inc. on Monday, Nov. 15. Elon Musk's company was sued for $162.2 million for alleged breach of contract related to stock warrants.

According to Reuters, JPMorgan Chase & Co filed its complaint at a federal court in Manhattan. Aside from the said amount, the bank is also seeking payment for interest, attorneys' fees, and other expenses involved in the litigation.

In the complaint, the New York-headquartered investment banking company said Tesla signed a contract pertaining to re-pricing the warrants. Based on the agreement for warrant transactions, the electric vehicle maker is required to deliver shares of its stock or cash if the share price reaches above the set contractual "strike price" once the warrants expire.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, which is also the largest bank in the United States, said the warrants lost considerable value after Elon Musk tweeted on Aug. 7, 2018, that he was mulling on taking his EV company private. He shared he had funding for the privatization at $420 per share. The bank suggested Musk's tweet affected the value that it has remained below Tesla's share price after the warrants expired in June and July of this year.

"JPMorgan demanded the due shares or cash, but Tesla has flagrantly ignored its clear contractual obligation to pay JPMorgan in full," part of the complaint lodged by the bank reads. "JPMorgan brings this action to enforce its right to payment."

CNBC reported that the conflict between Tesla and JPMorgan Chase & Co. came about when the latter made adjustments to the price of the warrants following Musk's tweet in August 2018. The former claimed it had a contractual right to make adjustments to the value after the social media posting and again when Tesla CEO later invalidated the idea of privatizing his company.

After more than a year since the tweet, Tesla stock changed and hit a three-year low of just under $177 per share before surging above $420 per share in December 2019. Later, the Tesla chief was charged with securities fraud by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the EV company and its owner agreed to pay $20 million each for settlement.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan & Chase Co. said in the suit filing: "In total, Tesla failed to deliver 228,775 shares of its common stock, leaving JPMorgan with an open hedge position equal to that shortfall."