The Tesla purchase of Solar City cannot be thought of like a normal purchase- because of Musk's role. Solar City had all sorts of problems before the purchase - it lost >20% of its workforce in 2016 and cut the salaries of it's founders to $1. There was also some really questionable self-dealing like SpaceX buying SolarCity bonds.
It makes perfect sense for Musk as a person to use Tesla to support Solarcity - one of his enterprises supporting another. But that's not how public companies work, you can't force Tesla shareholders to overpay SolarCity shareholders for a buyout simply because Musk personally wants to see SolarCity succeed.But when you view it in that context is makes perfect sense to see why Musk didn't try very hard to drive a hard bargain purchasing SC.
It makes perfect sense for Musk as a person to use Tesla to support Solarcity - one of his enterprises supporting another. But that's not how public companies work, you can't force Tesla shareholders to overpay SolarCity shareholders for a buyout simply because Musk personally wants to see SolarCity succeed.But when you view it in that context is makes perfect sense to see why Musk didn't try very hard to drive a hard bargain purchasing SC.