The SEC will try to force Elon Musk to testify about his Twitter stock purchases.
The agency charged with regulating securities markets is now investigating Musk for allegedly violating securities laws when he bought Twitter shares before buying the social media platform, which he has since renamed X.
In buying Twitter stock before acquiring the company, Musk could be held responsible for insider trading, market manipulation or even violations for fair market disclosure.
The SEC said on Thursday that Musk failed to appear to testify in the past month as asked. According to the filing, which was first spotted by Bloomberg, the agency is auditing Musk's statements and disclosures about the stock transactions.
Since the SEC began its investigation in April 2022, Musk has sent hundreds of documents and testified twice in July 2022. The investigation is ongoing and non-public.
Musk agreed to an interview with the SEC last month in San Francisco, but two days before the scheduled September 15 meeting, the billionaire raised objections, saying San Francisco wasn't a good location for it. He has claimed that San Francisco jurors dislike him after a questionnaire sent out to 200 prospective jurors returned with majority negative opinions of Musk.
The SEC suggested moving the interview to Fort Worth, Texas, where Tesla lives, but the agency says he refused to meet at all.
The SEC is not Musk's first tussle with the company. The Tesla CEO has been ordered to have a lawyer review his tweets after he tweeted in 2018 that he had 'funding secured' to take Tesla private for $420 per share and that investor support for the deal was confirmed. The months after Tesla's share prices fluctuated, which led to an SEC investigation into whether Musk had committed securities fraud.
The SEC is also investigating Musk and Tesla for their claims about Tesla's 'full self-driving' features, as well as Tesla's use of company funds to build Musk a 'glass house'.