Tesla Receives Second Subpoena Over Elon Musk Privatization Tweets
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, and arguably one of the most controversial public figures right now. On July 25, Tesla disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had received a second subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's 2018 tweet about taking the company private.
It is understood that Tesla received a subpoena on June 13, 2022, requesting the company to provide information on how it will comply with the amended settlement with the SEC. In response, Tesla said it is cooperating with government authorities and will continue to do so.
The incident began when Tesla's stock price fluctuated in 2018 after Musk claimed he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share and had "secured funding" for the deal, but was not actually ready for the acquisition.
Based on this, the SEC sued Tesla and Musk for civil securities fraud. The SEC subsequently filed a lawsuit alleging "securities fraud". The two sides subsequently settled the case, and Musk paid a hefty fine of up to $20 million and resigned as Tesla's chairman. In addition, Musk agreed to allow the company's lawyers to pre-approve tweets about material information about the company. It is reported that in October this year, Tesla will participate in a settlement conference regarding the securities fraud case.