The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a new lawsuit against Elon Musk. This lawsuit was filed against the billionaire, who is also the owner of social media platform X, since he refused to testify in an investigation. The US regulator has been probing Musk’s $44 billion X (formerly Twitter) takeover and wanted him to testify about the deal.
In a statement (spotted by Bloomberg), the SEC has complained that Musk received a subpoena and was scheduled to appear for testimony on September 15. However, “two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear” and has also raised “several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location,” the SEC noted.
The US regulator has also offered to conduct the testimony in Fort Worth, Texas. This location is closer to where Musk lives and will be held on multiple dates in October and November. However, “these good faith efforts were met with Musk’s blanket refusal to appear for testimony,” the SEC explained. So, the agency is now asking the court to order Musk to testify.
Why the SEC is investigation Elon Musk
The subpoena sent by the SEC is related to the regulator’s “ongoing nonpublic investigation” which is being done to prove whether Musk violated securities laws while buying the micro-blogging platform.
In 2022, Musk purchased Twitter stock and shared statements and filings regarding the company. Later that year, the SEC wrote a letter to Musk and asked him to disclose details about the purchases. Before closing the acquisition deal, he bought a notable stake in the social media platform. For this, the SEC asked Musk to file a disclosure with the agency.
Earlier, the SEC has already confirmed that Musk “does not appear” to have disclosed the purchases within the given timeframe. The billionaire successfully bought the social media platform at the end of 2022. A few months ago, Musk also renamed the platform as X.
This is not the only fight that is going on between Musk and the US regulator. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court rejected SpaceX’s chief appeal to reject an SEC settlement. This settlement forces him to get some of his Tesla-related tweets reviewed by a lawyer.
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