Tech

Tesla pays off $920 million convertible bond in cash

Key Points
  • According to sources familiar, Tesla paid a $920 million debt in cash today.
  • The $920 million in convertible senior notes expired on Friday at a conversion price of $359.87 per share.
  • Tesla's stock hasn't traded at or above $359 in weeks, which meant the company had to pay in all-cash rather than half-stock and half-cash as it previously intended.
Tesla CEO and founder of the Boring Company Elon Musk.
Kiichiro Sato | AP

Tesla has paid off its $920 million convertible bond obligation in cash, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC. The company also confirmed that it made the payment today.

The $920 million in convertible senior notes expired March 1, at a conversion price of $359.87 per share. Since Tesla's stock hasn't traded at or above $359 in weeks, the electric vehicle maker had to pay in all-cash rather than half-stock and half-cash as it had previously intended.

In its 2018 annual report, Tesla said it had $3.69 billion in unrestricted cash and equivalents to end the year.

When asked about the payment earlier this week, a Tesla spokesperson pointed to comments from the fourth-quarter shareholder letter, when the company said it has "sufficient cash on hand to comfortably settle in cash our convertible bond that will mature in March 2019." Tesla also said that its cash position improved by $1.45 billion in the second half of 2018, and that it expects positive net income and positive free cash flow "in every quarter beyond Q1 2019."

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