
The SEC has accused Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, of conspiracy to take over Twitter, the e-commerce giant, according to a lawsuit filed by the SEC.
The investigation, which escalates a long-running feud between the SEC and Musk, concerns whether Musk broke federal securities laws in 2022 when he bought stock in Twitter, which Musk renamed X, as well as statements and SEC filings he made in relation to the deal.
The SEC said it subpoenaed Musk in May 2023, demanding him to provide testimony at the SEC's San Francisco office, and said Musk had agreed to appear on Sept. 15th. But two days before, Musk raised'several spurious objections' and told the SEC he would not appear, the SEC said. Musk also refused to accept SEC proposals to conduct the deposition in Texas in October or November.
The SEC said that the SEC was trying to harass him and that his counsel needed time to review potentially relevant material contained in a biography of Musk published last month.
Musk has given the SEC documents pertaining to the probe and has previously provided testimony via video conference in July last year.
s testimony repeatedly in this misguided investigation - enough is enough, said Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk.
The SEC released a statement saying it was seeking s evidence to obtain information not already in the SEC's possession that is relevant to its legitimate and lawful investigation. The SEC declined to comment further.
Musk acquired Twitter after initially building a substantial minority stake in the social media platform, which he first revealed in April 2022. Musk was late with the disclosure filing and initially hinted that he planned to be a passive stakeholder, which meant he didn't plan to take over Twitter or influence its management decisions.
Musk resigned days later, and has since turned down a board seat at Twitter. In late April, Trump announced plans to buy the company for $44 billion and tried to get out of the deal, alleging Twitter was not disclosing the full extent of bot activity on its platform.
In late October 2022, Musk closed the acquisition of Twitter, facing a trial that sought to compel him to complete the deal.
Thursday's filing is the latest brushup between Musk and the SEC, which have been feuding since Musk's 2018 tweet that he planned to take Tesla private and have secured funding. Since then, Musk has decried the SEC, which has been investigating Musk for a number of years.
Musk, speaking on the X, said: 'It's time for us to do what we've done to make the most impact possible on our economy,' adding: 'It's time for innovation,' he said.
The lawsuit adds to Musk's legal woes. Reuters previously reported that the Justice Department is investigating Tesla over its claims of self-driving cars. Federal prosecutors in New York have also opened an investigation related to Musk's corporate perks and claims related to vehicle driving range, a source with knowledge of the probe said.