SEC Pursues Legal Action to Compel Elon Musk’s Testimony on Twitter Acquisition
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated legal proceedings against Elon Musk over his alleged non-compliance with a subpoena requiring his testimony. The matter is linked to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter last year and the stock trading activities during this period.
The SEC, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday, stated that Musk was due to testify on September 15, 2023, but failed to appear. They further clarified that the probe seeks to determine if there were any securities fraud occurrences while Musk was purchasing Twitter shares. The transaction culminated in Musk buying Twitter, now named X, in October, in a deal valued around $44 billion.
SEC attorneys, in the Northern District of California, affirmed that a subpoena had been served to Musk, the Tesla CEO, in May 2023. They have expressed concern over Musk’s continued non-compliance, stating it impedes their ongoing investigation into potential federal securities law violations. Consequently, they are seeking the court’s intervention to ensure Musk’s appearance for the investigative testimony.
The SEC has reportedly made numerous attempts to coordinate with Musk for the testimony, even proposing to meet at their Fort Worth, Texas office, near Musk’s residence in Austin. However, these endeavors were met with outright refusals from Musk.
Elon Musk’s legal representative, Alex Spiro, responded stating, “The SEC has already taken Mr. Musk’s testimony multiple times in this misguided investigation—enough is enough.”
In addition to other objections, the SEC has highlighted Musk’s previous lack of concerns regarding the location for the testimony, San Francisco, which he now objects to. Furthermore, they dispute Musk’s assertion that his recently released biography by Walter Isaacson might have information pertinent to the case, calling it an illegitimate reason to defy the subpoena.
The SEC maintains that their investigation is still underway and hasn’t concluded any legal violations. A hearing regarding the lawsuit is slated for Nov. 9.
