SEC Aims to Compel Elon Musk’s Testimony on Twitter Stock Purchases

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pursuing legal action against Elon Musk for his refusal to testify in an investigation related to his Twitter stock purchases and public statements concerning the $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform.

In a recent filing at a California federal court, the SEC revealed an ongoing private investigation into potential violations of federal securities laws by Musk. The investigation concerns his acquisitions of Twitter stock and his statements and SEC filings regarding Twitter in 2022. The SEC accused Musk of failing to comply with a subpoena requiring his testimony on September 15, prompting the commission to seek a court order compelling his appearance due to his outright refusal to cooperate.

In response, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, stated that the SEC had already obtained Musk’s testimony multiple times during the investigation. The filing outlined how Musk acquired a significant stake in Twitter, now called X, ahead of his $54.20 per share bid for the company in October last year. It also mentioned the SEC’s inquiries into Musk’s failure to make appropriate filings by a March deadline and the investor notification issue surrounding his tweet about concerns over bots on the platform.

Musk’s prior clash with the SEC over a tweet in 2018 about taking Tesla private was also noted. Despite settling with the SEC at that time, ongoing disputes have persisted regarding the terms of the settlement.

The filing further disclosed that the SEC initiated the investigation in April 2022, gathering numerous documents from various third parties, including hundreds from Musk himself. Although Musk testified twice in July 2022, he later backed out of an additional scheduled appearance, raising objections to the location and other factors, such as claiming the presence of potentially relevant information in a published biography about him.

His objections, as outlined in the filing, included allegations of harassment by the SEC and refusals to meet in Texas or consider alternative dates in October and November.