The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it intends to seek sanctions against Elon Musk after he didn’t appear to testify in court for the agency’s probe into his acquisition of Twitter, now called X.

Per Reuters:

The SEC is investigating whether Musk violated securities laws in early 2022 when he started accumulating Twitter stock.

Musk has been criticized, including by Twitter shareholders, for waiting at least 10 days too long to disclose he was buying Twitter shares.

Investors must disclose when they reach 5% ownership of public companies. Musk eventually disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake, and soon thereafter offered to buy the whole company.

In July, Musk said he misunderstood SEC disclosure requirements, and that “all indications” suggested his delay was a “mistake.”

The SEC sued last October after he missed a scheduled interview at its San Francisco office.

WATCH:

From the New York Post:

In a court filing, the SEC said the sanctions motion would seek an order to show cause for why Musk should not be held in civil contempt for waiting until just three hours before the scheduled Sept. 10 testimony to advise he would not appear.

Musk, whose businesses include electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, went to Florida’s Cape Canaveral that day to oversee the launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission.

Lawyers for Musk called sanctions “drastic” and unnecessary, saying his testimony has already been rescheduled for Oct. 3.

“Musk has said the SEC was trying to ‘harass’ him through subpoenas,” the New York Post noted.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.


We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.