Elon Musk was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for failing to timely disclose his purchase of more than 5% of Twitter's common stock in March 2022.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the SEC said the delay allowed Musk to continue buying Twitter stock at artificially low prices, underpaying him by at least $150 million. said.
Musk's lawyer said the billionaire Twitter owner did nothing wrong and called the SEC's lawsuit “a sham.”
The SEC wants Musk to pay a civil penalty and be stripped of any benefits to which he is entitled.
Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro, said in an email: Mr. Musk did nothing wrong and everyone recognizes this fraud for what it is. ”
SEC rules require investors like Musk to disclose within 10 calendar days if their ownership threshold exceeds 5%.
According to the SEC, Musk did not disclose his shares until April 4, 2022, 11 days after the deadline, at which point he owned more than 9% of Twitter stock.
Twitter's stock price rose more than 27% following the disclosure, according to the SEC.
Musk ultimately bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and renamed it X.
This is a developing story. Please check back for the latest information.
