- Securities and Exchange Commission sued Elon Musk.
- The new lawsuit alleges that Musk violated securities laws related to his purchase of Twitter shares.
- This isn’t the first time a Tesla leader has gone toe-to-toe with the SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a case against it Elon MuskTwitter is accused of violating securities laws in connection with its $44 billion acquisition, according to a federal docket.
The complaint alleges that Musk “failed to timely file a beneficial ownership report with the SEC” disclosing his purchases. Twitter Shares before he announced ownership of the company.
“As a result, Musk was able to continue buying shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to Underpay by at least $150 million For the shares he purchased after reporting his beneficial ownership,” the complaint read.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told Business Insider in an email that Musk “has done nothing wrong.”
“Today’s action is an admission by the SEC that they can’t bring a real case — because Mr. Musk has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this sham for what it is,” Spiro said. “With the SEC backing down and leaving office — the SEC’s multi-year campaign of harassment against Mr. Musk culminated in the filing of a single-count Tiki Tuck complaint against Mr. Musk for administrative failure to file a Section 13(d) complaint. A single form – an offense which carries a nominal penalty even if proven.”
This is not the first time the SEC has sued Musk. A 2018 complaint to the commission came from Musk “Funding secured” tweetindicating that he planned to take Tesla Private, which ultimately led to a settlement under which both Tesla and Musk paid $20 million in fines.
The SEC did not respond to BI’s request for comment.
Correction: January 14, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated the defendant in the story’s URL and meta description. The SEC sued Elon Musk, not Tesla.
