https://apnews.com/041a0c57262fc869a3dbf9760fd1f0b0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk's former chief of staff on Wednesday testified that the billionaire believed he had a “handshake deal" to take Tesla private in 2018 shortly before he tweeted he had the financing for an aborted buyout that is still haunting him in a high-profile trial.

Sam Teller, who worked closely Musk from 2014 to 2019, detailed a series of meetings that his former boss held with representatives from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. His remarks came during testimony that also shed light on the quirks of a billionaire who runs Tesla, rocket ship maker SpaceX and Twitter.