Tesla's German shares fall after CEO Musk drops plan to take company private

LONDON (Reuters) - Germany-listed shares in Tesla fell more than 3 percent in early deals on the Tradegate exchange on Monday, after Chief Executive Elon Musk called off his bid to take the company private.

Musk said late on Friday he would heed shareholder concerns and no longer pursue a $72 billion deal to take the luxury electric carmaker private, abandoning an idea that stunned investors and drew regulatory scrutiny.

Tesla shares have been trading well below their level on Aug. 7 when they rallied after Musk announced on Twitter he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 a share, saying funding for the deal was “secured”.

Musk and Tesla face a series of investor lawsuits and a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the factual accuracy of Musk’s tweet.