Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Donald Trump on October 17, 2024 in Folsom, Pennsylvania. Matt Rourke/AP Hide caption
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Matt Rourke/Associated Press
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused billionaire Elon Musk of failing to timely disclose his ownership of Twitter stock in early 2022, before he acquired the social media site.
As a result, Musk was able to underpay “at least $150 million” for the shares he bought, even though he should have disclosed his ownership of more than 5% of Twitter shares. The SEC insists. Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and later changed its name to “X.”
Musk started accumulating Twitter shares in early 2022, and by March of the same year he owned more than 5%. At this point, he was required by law to disclose ownership, but did not do so until April 4, 11 days after the reporting deadline, according to the complaint.
Representatives for Mr. X and Mr. Musk could not immediately be reached for comment.
After Musk signed the deal to buy Twitter in April 2022, he tried to walk out of the deal, leading the company to sue him to force the deal.
The SEC announced that, starting in April 2022, it has authorized it to investigate whether there are any securities law violations related to Musk’s purchase of Twitter stock, his statements about the company, and his filings with the SEC.
Before filing suit, the SEC went to court to compel Musk to testify as part of its investigation into his acquisition of Twitter.
Current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is scheduled to resign on January 20th, but it is unclear whether the new administration will continue the case.
