SEC Threatens Elon Musk with Charges
Outgoing Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler apparently has issued a monetary settlement demand on billionaire Elon Musk, threatening charges if he does not comply.
Musk posted a letter Thursday stating the charges that would be brought by Chairman Gary Gensler’s SEC date back to the businessman’s 2022 purchase of social media platform Twitter, now known as X.
Musk commented, “Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?”
Oh Gary, how could you do this to me? 🥹 pic.twitter.com/OoooQI77ZS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2024
In the letter, Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro wrote to Gensler, “Yesterday, the Commission Staff issued a settlement demand that required Mr. Musk agree within 48 hours to either accept a monetary payment or face charges on numerous counts.”
“They indicated that this demand was the result of a directive from their superiors and that charges would be brought imminently unless Mr. Musk acquiesced,” Spiro continued.
“This demand follows a multi-year investigation and more than six years of harassment of Mr. Musk by the Commission and its staff,” the letter read.
Spiro also revealed that the SEC has reopened an investigation into Musk’s company Neuralink.
“This series of events makes clear that the Commission is not motivated to seek the truth but instead is engaged in an improperly motivated campaign against Mr. Musk and the individuals and companies associated with him,” the attorney wrote.
“We demand to know who directed these actions — whether it was you or the White House. These tactics and misguided schemes will not intimidate us,” Spiro concluded.
CNN reported that the SEC Twitter purchase charges would stem from the spring of 2022.
“In April 2022, Musk disclosed he had purchased 9% of the shares of Twitter ahead of his purchase of the entire company later that year. The SEC sent him a letter wanting to know why he had not disclosed those purchases within 10 days of crossing the 5% threshold of shares owned, as required by securities law,” the news outlet said.
In the fall of 2022, Musk purchased the rest of Twitter’s shares for $44 billion.
In an August interview with podcast host Lex Fridman, Musk argued the SEC is just looking for “trophies.”
“The incentive structure is messed up because the lawyers at the SEC are not paid well, it’s a fairly low paying job, but what they’re looking for is a trophy from the SEC. They’re looking for something they put on, basically, their LinkedIn. From that, they can get a job at a high paying law firm,” Musk said.
NEW: The SEC has issued a settlement demand to Elon Musk, demanding that he either make a monetary payment or face numerous charges.
Almost only one more month of this clown show.
Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro suggested that the Biden White House was behind the demand:
“This… pic.twitter.com/MYXulWUah6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 13, 2024
The SEC sued Musk and Tesla in 2018 after he had tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private, saying he had deceived investors. As part of a settlement agreement, Musk was forced to give up the title of chairman of the board (though he remains CEO) and pay a $20 million fine, according to CNN.
The outlet noted that Musk and Gensler have done battle in the past over the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Musk strongly supports keeping the market free, while Gensler wants the currencies to be regulated and fall under the purview of the SEC.
An SEC spokesperson told Business Insider regarding its dealings with Musk, “It is the policy of the SEC to conduct investigations on a confidential basis to preserve the integrity of its investigative process. The SEC therefore does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
It seems likely Musk’s problems with the SEC will quickly go away when Donald Trump is sworn in as president next month.
Musk was a strong backer of Trump’s re-election, and the president has nominated cryptocurrency proponent Paul Atkins to be the next chairman of the SEC.
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