After the billionaire said that he would no longer participate with the inquiry into his purchase of Twitter, which is now known as X, the financial regulators in the United States have decided to sue Elon Musk.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted a petition to a federal court requesting that the court compel him to comply with their request that he appear for a third round of testimony regarding the transaction.
The decision to file a lawsuit came after receiving a letter from Mr. Musk’s attorney in which it was stated that his client would not appear as required.
It leveled the charge of “harassment” against the SEC.
“Actions taken by the government without being scrutinized are risky, and the track record in this area is concerning. According to a letter written by Mr. Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, “Mr. Musk refuses to acquiesce in the Commission’s incursions and therefore refuses to appear as you demand.”
The lawsuit is the most recent dispute between Mr. Musk and the SEC. The previous conflict began when Mr. Musk stated on national television that he had “no respect” for the regulator.
The Securities and Exchange Commission started looking into Mr. Musk’s $44 billion purchase of X last year.
The Twitter agreement involving Elon Musk is the subject of an investigation.
In a filing that was issued in federal court in San Francisco, it was stated that the agency is investigating whether or not his stock transactions in 2022, which occurred before he owned the firm entirely, and claims that he made about those investments violated securities laws.
After being served with a subpoena, Mr. Musk testified by video conference for a total of two and a half hours in the month of July, according to the SEC. The organization stated that another session was required since after those meetings it had received roughly half of the papers related to the case.
In a letter to the government that was included as part of the exhibit, Mr. Musk’s counsel argued that it was “unclear why the staff requires further time diverting Mr. Musk from his significant obligations to companies and shareholders…Enough is enough”.
Before, Mr. Musk and the SEC squared off against each other.
In 2018, it was alleged that he deceived investors by declaring in a Tweet that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla, the electric car company that he runs, private. This allegation was made by the SEC.
Later on, he reached a settlement with the plaintiffs, in which he agreed to stand down from his position as chairman of the board at the company and accept what was nicknamed a “Twitter sitter,” which placed restrictions on what he could say on social media about the business.
Mr. Musk has made multiple court appearances, the most recent of which was in February, in an effort to have those constraints lifted.
In a separate development, a judge in New York ruled this week that Mr. Musk must face a lawsuit brought against him by former investors in Twitter who believe he deceived previous shareholders by failing to immediately disclose his share acquisitions. An insider trading claim, on the other hand, was dismissed by the judge.
