Elon Musk, known for leading companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and more recently, X (formerly Twitter), is once again facing legal trouble.
This time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is calling out the tech billionaire for failing to appear in court for testimony linked to his high-profile acquisition of Twitter.
In an investigation surrounding Musk's purchase of Twitter, the SEC had ordered him to testify on September 10.
But just hours before his scheduled appearance, Musk informed the SEC that he wouldn't make it.
The SEC, in a filing today, expressed its frustration with Musk's last-minute decision to skip the testimony.
According to the filing, the SEC stated that Musk notified them of his absence just three hours prior to his court-ordered testimony.
In response, the agency said: "The Court must make clear that Musk’s gamesmanship and delay tactics must cease."
Rather than attending the testimony, Musk reportedly spent September 10 overseeing the launch of Polaris Dawn, a mission by his space company, SpaceX.
Hoping to avoid further delays, the SEC’s legal team offered to reschedule Musk’s hearing to the next day, September 11.
However, Musk’s attorney rejected that option, only agreeing to potential dates in October.
The SEC has now made it clear that they are seeking “meaningful conditional relief” if Musk fails to appear at his newly proposed court date in October.
In addition, the agency plans to file for sanctions to recover the costs of the canceled testimony, stating that they spent thousands of dollars flying attorneys to Los Angeles for the testimony Musk skipped.
Musk’s court appearance is part of a broader SEC investigation into whether he violated securities laws during his purchase of Twitter shares before the $44 billion takeover in 2022.
The SEC is looking into whether Musk delayed disclosing his stock purchases and whether his public statements about the deal misled investors.
According to the SEC, Musk took at least 10 extra days before making his stock purchases public, raising concerns about transparency.
This isn’t the first time Musk has clashed with the SEC.
In 2018, he faced penalties for tweeting about Tesla stock in a way that the SEC considered market manipulation.
As a result, Musk was forced to step down as Tesla’s chairman and pay a hefty $40 million fine. At the time, Musk claimed the charges were unjustified.
Additionally, the SEC has investigated Tesla and Musk over other matters, including the company’s claims about its self-driving technology and even the use of company funds to build a "glass house" for Musk.
It seems Musk’s interactions with regulators aren’t going to end anytime soon.
You can read the filing below.
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