A federal judge orders Elon Musk to testify again in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, agreeing to a date, time and location for the interview with regulators and the billionaire. I was given one week’s grace until then.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler’s order issued Saturday night formalized a preliminary ruling she issued in December that sided with regulators.
In October, the SEC filed a complaint against Musk seeking to compel the CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX to testify as part of an investigation into his 2022 acquisition of social media giant Twitter (later renamed X). Musk declined to attend the September press conference. said the SEC.
The agency is investigating whether Mr. Musk followed the law when he submitted the required documentation regarding his purchase of Twitter stock, and whether his statements about the acquisition were misleading.
Musk resisted the SEC’s request to interview him, saying he had already been interviewed twice and accusing the regulator of harassment.
Boehler rejected that argument. In his ruling, he said the SEC has the authority to issue subpoenas seeking relevant information.
If the SEC and Mr. Musk cannot agree on a date and time for the meeting, Mr. Bieler said he will listen to both sides and make a decision.
Musk’s friction with the SEC began in 2018, when the regulator sued him after he tweeted that “funding is secured” in reference to a possible plan to take Tesla private. Ta. To settle the case, Musk agreed to let Tesla’s lawyers review his tweets about the electric car maker. The SEC again sued him in 2019 for violating the same provision.
Musk has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the agreement, arguing that it violates his constitutional right to free speech.
