tsla-ex4119_652.htm

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT
TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

As of February 13, 2020, Tesla, Inc. had one class of common stock registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

The following description of our common stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and our amended and restated bylaws (the “Bylaws”), each of which is incorporated herein by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, of which this Exhibit 4.119 is a part. We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and the applicable provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) for additional information.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 2,100,000,000 shares, with a par value of $0.001 per share, of which 2,000,000,000 shares are designated as common stock.

The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders and do not have cumulative voting rights. Accordingly, holders of a majority of the shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors may elect all of the directors standing for election. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of outstanding shares of common stock are entitled to receive ratably any dividends declared by our board of directors out of assets legally available. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of our common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and the liquidation preference of any then outstanding shares of preferred stock. Holders of common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock.

We have certain outstanding securities that may be converted, exercised or exchanged into shares of our common stock.

Certain holders of unregistered common stock purchased in private placements, or their permitted transferees, are entitled to rights with respect to the registration of such shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. These rights are provided under the terms of an investors’ rights agreement between us and the holders of these shares, or the investors’ rights agreement, and include demand registration rights, short-form

registration rights and piggyback registration rights. All fees, costs and expenses of underwritten registrations will be borne by us and all selling expenses, including underwriting discounts and selling commissions, will be borne by the holders of the shares being registered.

The registration rights terminate with respect to the registration rights of an individual holder after the date that is five years following such time when the holder can sell all of the holder’s shares in any three month period under Rule 144 or another similar exemption under the Securities Act, unless such holder holds at least 2% of our voting stock.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “TSLA.”

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws contain certain provisions that could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions and certain provisions of Delaware law, which are summarized below, are expected to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate more favorable terms with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us.

Limits on Ability of Stockholders to Act by Written Consent or Call a Special Meeting

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not act by written consent, which may lengthen the amount of time required to take stockholder actions. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our amended and restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our amended and restated bylaws.

In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by the chairperson of the board, the chief executive officer, the president (in the absence of a chief executive officer), or our board of directors. Stockholders may not call a special meeting, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force

consideration of a proposal or for holders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.

Our amended and restated bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors. These provisions may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed. These provisions may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

Our board of directors is divided into three classes, one class of which is elected each year by our stockholders, and the directors in each class will serve for a three-year term. A third party may be discouraged from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us as it is more difficult and time-consuming for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors on a classified board.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws do not permit cumulative voting in the election of directors. Cumulative voting allows a stockholder to vote a portion or all of its shares for one or more candidates for seats on the board of directors. Without cumulative voting, a minority stockholder may not be able to gain as many seats on our board of directors as the stockholder would be able to gain if cumulative voting were permitted. The absence of cumulative voting makes it more difficult for a minority stockholder to gain a seat on our board of directors to influence our board’s decision regarding a takeover.

The amendment of the above provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires approval by holders of at least two-thirds of our outstanding capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors.

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging, under certain circumstances, in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder unless:

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prior to the date of the transaction, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

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upon completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, calculated as provided under Section 203; or

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at or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Generally, a business combination includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An interested stockholder is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock. We expect the existence of this provision to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions our board of directors does not approve in advance. We also anticipate that Section 203 may also discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.

The provisions of Delaware law and the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could have the effect of discouraging others from attempting hostile takeovers and, as a consequence, they might also inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of our common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. These provisions might also have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests.