The Tesla founder is as popular as he is controversial.
(Photo: imago images/Future Image)
new York Elon Musk is once again targeted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is investigating whether Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk violated securities laws when they sold Tesla stock in late 2021. This is reported by the Wall Street Journal and the Bloomberg agency, citing insiders.
The investigation therefore focuses on stock sales in the context of a Twitter poll by Musk. The boss of the electric car manufacturer had asked his Twitter followers whether he should sell a ten percent stake in the company. The SEC is now investigating whether Musk violated insider trading rules.
Tesla shares fell sharply after the November 6 survey. Tesla board member Kimbal Musk had recently sold 88,500 Tesla shares worth about $109 million on Nov. 5.
The SEC declined to comment Thursday. Tesla did not initially rule on request. Musk finally told the Financial Times that his brother Kimbal didn’t know he was going to conduct the Twitter poll. However, Tesla’s lawyers were informed.
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Musk is very active on Twitter and is always responding to questions from Tesla owners and market watchers. His humor is considered original by some followers and unpredictable by others.
“Harassment Campaign” Against Musk?
In the past, he had repeatedly clashed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over his statements. After several disputes, in September 2018 he committed to having market-moving tweets reviewed by Tesla’s lawyers. However, there is disagreement as to which tweets fall under these regulations.
Musk lashed out at the SEC again on Twitter on Wednesday. He didn’t start the fight with the agency, “but I will end it,” Musk said.
On Thursday, a U.S. District Judge denied Musk a court hearing on his attorneys’ allegation that the SEC was running a “harassment campaign” against him — and was trying to “muzzle” him and the company over his criticism of the government. It’s unclear what Musk and Tesla even asked for, the judge said.
The starting point of the ongoing dispute is a series of tweets from 2018, in which Musk announced that he had the money and the support of investors to take Tesla private at a price of $420 per share. The SEC claimed the tweets were false statements. In the end, it was agreed to set up a $40 million investor compensation fund, filled by Musk and Tesla, but there is renewed dispute over its use.
Concern for individual liberties
Earlier in February, Tesla announced that the company received a Nov. 16 subpoena from the SEC seeking information about the governance processes required to comply with the September 2018 settlement.
The SEC has compiled a whole series of what it considers critical tweets. In 2019, for example, Musk tweeted about Tesla’s production prospects without prior approval. In April 2019, both sides agreed to define certain topics that the Tesla boss cannot tweet about without legal approval.
Last week, Musk finally compared Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler. He posted a picture of Hitler with the phrases: “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau” and “I had a budget”. The background was Musk’s support for the protest of Canadian truck drivers who were critical of vaccinations. After criticism, he deleted the tweet.
The Tesla boss has explicitly spoken out in favor of vaccinations against Covid: The science is “clear” here. However, Musk rejects compulsory vaccination out of concern for individual freedoms.
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